The Brief – Thursday 19 February: Havas earnings, Barb 2025 annual report, Snapchat launches Creator Subscriptions

📈 Havas reported 3.1% organic growth in fiscal year 2025 to reach €2.78m. Adjusted EBIT, the group’s measure of profit, was €358m, representing a margin of 12.9%. Havas is currently guiding organic growth expectations between 2% and 3% in 2026. (Havas)

📺 Barb has published its annual report on UK TV viewing. What People Watched 2025 found that live viewing still comprises 45% of total identified viewing on TV sets, driven by sport and entertainment shows. On-demand viewing, in contrast, accounted for 38% of viewing. The most-used TV navigation platforms were Freeview, Sky and smart TV EPGs, followed by YouTube. TV sets have, however, become the most-used device for people to watch YouTube via their domestic WiFi networks. (Barb)

📺 Netflix is forecast to take nearly 10% of global CTV adspend next year, with ad revenue expected to double to $3bn in 2026 and reach $8bn by 2030. (Warc)

👻 Snapchat will soon begin alpha testing allowing users to pay to subscribe to creators on the platform. The premium tier will allow creators to paywall access to exclusive content, priority replies, and an ad-free experience within that creator’s content on Stories. (Snap)

🤖 Perplexity has stepped back from adding advertising to its chat-based AI services. The company had briefly added sponsored content beneath chatbot answers in 2024, but leadership has now confirmed there are no plans to revisit ads as a revenue source anytime soon. (Financial Times)

🎧 Google is adding a music generation feature to its Gemini AI app. Users will be able to describe the song they want to create or upload a photo or video to prompt Gemini to match the mood of the media file. (TechCrunch)

🚫 Ofcom announced it will fast-track its decision on proposed new requirements for tech firms to use technology to block the creation or dissemination of illegal intimate images at its source. Ofcom’s final decision on the proposals will now come in May, sooner than originally outlined. (Ofcom)

🎙️ The Independent is launching a new weekly political podcast. In The Room, hosted by former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara and former deputy chief of staff to Boris Johnson Cleo Watson, debuts Friday. Both MacNamara and Watson were fined for their respective involvements in the Partygate scandal during the Covid-19 pandemic. (The Independent)

🌳 Mail Metro Media has relaunched its £100k Impact Fund to support sustainable advertising on The i Paper and New Scientist throughout 2026. In addition to the scheme, Mail Metro Media has signed up to GiffGaff’s Up To Good fund with Ecologi, and will pledge to fund the planting of 100 trees for every campaign supported by the Impact Fund. (Mail Metro Media)