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Welcome to The Brief by Kuro House, your daily shot of marketing intelligence—no fluff, just the stories that matter. Today, we’re diving into the seismic shifts in global ad spend, the evolving power of commerce media, and some intriguing movement in TV news ratings. Whether you’re strategizing for 2025 or just want to keep your finger on the pulse, let’s get right to it.
First up, a major milestone in the world of advertising: commerce media is set to overtake TV ad spend globally for the first time in 2025. According to WPP Media’s latest “This Year Next Year 2025 End-of-Year Forecast,” commerce media will hit $178.2 billion in global ad revenue next year, surpassing TV advertising, which will reach $171.1 billion. Digital advertising is now expected to account for a staggering 84% of the global ad market. Streaming’s share of TV revenue is also on the rise, moving from 26.2% to 29.5%. Kate Scott-Dawkins, global president of business intelligence at WPP Media, highlights that commerce media’s performance-driven and measurable nature is making it very attractive to brands. Interestingly, despite the buzz around AI search, traditional search budgets are holding strong. WPP projects search spend to reach $244.9 billion in 2025—a 10.2% year-over-year increase—with similar growth expected in 2026. WPP will start reporting AI search revenue separately in 2026, reflecting new ad offerings from platforms like OpenAI. For now, AI is changing how people discover products faster than it’s changing where marketers spend their search dollars. The overall ad market is looking robust: WPP has upgraded its global ad revenue growth forecast for 2025 to 8.8% and expects the market to top $1.2 trillion by 2026. U.S. projections are similarly bullish, with Madison & Wall forecasting 11% ad spend growth in 2025, excluding political spending. The rise of AI-enabled media buying platforms—think Meta’s Advantage+ and Google’s Performance Max—is driving consolidation in the space. To help marketers navigate this new terrain, WPP Media is rolling out a Future of Advertising Intelligence Framework, scoring companies across data, AI capabilities, distribution, transactions, and content. Keep an eye out for the full rubric at CES in January 2026. That was all from Adweek.
Let’s shift gears to the world of TV news, where the Thanksgiving holiday brought some big numbers. According to Adweek, NBC News’ Today show extended its winning streak in both total viewers and the key Adults 25-54 demo, thanks in large part to its coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Thursday edition of Today pulled in 4.422 million viewers—the best Thanksgiving Day performance on record for the show, and its largest single-day audience since April 2020. All three network morning shows—NBC’s Today, ABC’s Good Morning America, and CBS Mornings—saw week-to-week gains in total viewers, though GMA slipped in the 25-54 demo. For the week of November 24, Today averaged 3.458 million total viewers and 803,000 in the 25-54 demo, up 19% and 30% respectively from the previous week. GMA landed at 2.908 million viewers and 469,000 in the demo, while CBS Mornings had 1.953 million and 321,000, respectively. The numbers were based on a mix of regular and special programming due to the holiday, but the overall takeaway is clear: live event coverage like the Macy’s Parade can deliver huge audience spikes, reinforcing the enduring power of appointment viewing.
On the evening news front, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir continues its reign as the top-rated evening newscast, according to another Adweek report. For the week of November 24, ABC pulled in 8.273 million total viewers and 1.03 million in the Adults 25-54 demo, growing by 4% week-over-week in both categories. CBS Evening News also saw gains, with 4.256 million total viewers and 547,000 in the demo, up 3% from the previous week. NBC Nightly News, meanwhile, was the only major evening newscast to decline in total viewers, dropping 3% to 6.24 million, though it did post a 6% gain in the demo. ABC’s lead over its closest competitor widened to more than 2 million viewers—its largest margin in nine months. The data, sourced from Nielsen, underscores the fierce competition among the big three networks, and how even slight shifts can have a significant impact in this high-stakes landscape.
That’s all for today’s edition of The Brief by Kuro House. As we look ahead to 2025, it’s clear the rules of the game in media and marketing are being rewritten—driven by digital innovation, new measurement frameworks, and the enduring importance of live, communal experiences. We’ll be here every day to help you make sense of it all. Thanks for tuning in, and remember: in marketing, staying curious is your best competitive edge. See you tomorrow.
