In today’s MadTech Daily, we cover the latest from Cannes 2026, the podcast industry being worth more than previously estimated, and Channel 4 adding new partners to its ad tech stack. 

Cannes 2026: Day one

Amid the heat of La Croisette, there's a lot of announcements being made. Day one delivered a flurry of AI-and-ad-tech news. Omnicom Media and Disney Advertising unveiled a connected TV partnership using Innovid technology to replace repetitive streaming ads with sequential, evolving creative across both on-demand and live programming. Amazon introduced Alexa+ Agentic Ads, letting shoppers complete purchases through conversational AI without leaving the chat, as brands grapple with measuring "agentic" commerce.

Meanwhile, OpenAI made its Cannes debut, with leadership declaring the company now firmly in the advertising business - leaning into outcome-based "intelligence economy" metrics over traditional attention metrics, while stressing strict guardrails around advertiser access to user conversations.

Podcast industry bigger than expected 

The global podcast industry generated an estimated USD$7.3bn (£5.77bn) in revenue in 2025, according to new research from Owl & Co., suggesting the sector is more than twice as large as many previous estimates indicated. The figure includes advertising and subscription revenue across global markets, reflecting the growing commercial influence of podcasting. Advertising remains the dominant revenue source, while the study also highlights the increasing importance of video podcasts, particularly on YouTube, which has emerged as a leading platform for podcast consumption.

The report challenges the industry’s long-standing reliance on estimates from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which primarily track US audio advertising revenue. Owl & Co.’s analysis incorporates video advertising, international audiences and major podcast markets such as China, where platforms like Ximalaya attract significant listenership. 

Channel 4 adds new partners to ad tech stack 

Channel 4 has expanded access to its video-on-demand advertising inventory through new partnerships with Amazon Ads, FreeWheel, Hawk, PubMatic and Yahoo. The move will allow advertisers worldwide to buy Channel 4 inventory programmatically across its streaming content, using audience and contextual targeting tools in real time. The expansion follows the broadcaster’s recent agreement with Google to enable Google audience targeting across its inventory.

Channel 4’s content will become available through Amazon DSP in the third quarter, alongside streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video. Additional integrations with FreeWheel Buyer Cloud, PubMatic Activate, Hawk DSP and Yahoo DSP will further expand access to the broadcaster’s inventory. 

Channel 4 said the partnerships support its strategy of making premium content easier to buy programmatically while responding to advertiser demand for greater automation and audience reach across streaming environments.