Bonded Bitesize - Your Midweek Roundup

RAJAR Q4 2025: UK Radio Still Reaches 50M Weekly Listeners

The latest RAJAR Q4 2025 data confirms that 50 million UK adults tune into radio each week, accounting for more than one billion hours of listening across platforms. Digital channels : including DAB, online streaming and smart speakers, now represent the majority of listening time, highlighting how radio continues to evolve beyond traditional FM/AM. Commercial radio also increased its share of listening versus the BBC, reflecting strong audience engagement with brand portfolios. This trend points to a resilient audio ecosystem that remains valuable for advertisers seeking broad, trusted reach.

ITV introduces split -screen in-play ads during Six Nations

ITV is debuting picture‑in‑picture advertising during the 2026 Men’s Six Nations tournament, placing 20‑second commercials alongside live play during pauses before scrums. Samsung and Virgin Atlantic are the first brands to adopt the format, which keeps the action visible while running ads. This will mark a new premium TV inventory opportunity for advertisers.

EU regulators charge TikTok for addictive design under Digital Services Act

The European Commission has formally charged TikTok with breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA), claiming its infinite scroll, autoplay and personalised recommendations encourage compulsive use and insufficiently protect minors and vulnerable users. If TikTok fails to adjust the app design, it could face fines of up to 6 % of global revenue which is a substantial regulatory threat. The move underlines increasing scrutiny on major platforms’ behavioural design and how it ties into user protection and advertising environments.

Forbes reports the top 5 most effective Superbowl ads of 2026

Forbes has dropped a new article, analysing the Superbowl ads and describing the themes as “Humour, Community and AI” focussed.

The top 5 brands include Budweiser, The Ring, Pepsi Zero, Levis and Lay’s. Other honourable mentions include State Farm, Instacart and Pringles.

Google Ads renames Youtube “Awareness” Objective to “Reach, Views and Engagements”

Google Ads users may have more clarity when using the platform to set up YouTube campaigns as what would be previously “Awareness campaigns”. It has been decided that the objective shall now be named “YouTube reach, views and engagements” Instead. This is done to allow advertisers to understand the real outcomes they can drive with YouTube ads, and the update is suitable for brands with top of mid-funnel goals.

Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup