In one of the most consequential earnings weeks of 2026, hosts Kate Scott-Dawkins and Jeff Foster break down results from Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Reddit, Roku, Comcast, Rogers, Televisa Univision, and Spotify. The overarching story: digital advertising is not just healthy — it's accelerating, decoupling from broader macroeconomic pressures, and being fundamentally reshaped by AI. Meanwhile, sports continues to dominate the traditional TV conversation, and the Fed's most divided rate decision in decades signals turbulence ahead.

Key Topics Discussed

• Record digital ad growth from Alphabet (+19%), Meta (+33%), Amazon (+22%), and Reddit (+60%+) despite macro headwinds
• How AI is materially improving advertising outcomes across every major platform — from Meta's trillion-parameter ranking model to Google's AI-enabled campaign types
• The structural shift of ad spend away from traditional TV (projected to fall below 12% global share by 2030) toward search, retail media, and social
• Expansion of the advertiser base, including AI-endemic companies (OpenAI, Anthropic) spending ahead of IPOs
• Agentic commerce: Google's Universal Commerce Protocol, Amazon Rufus auto-buying, and Meta's in-app shopping — and what this means for the future of the purchase funnel
• Apple's deliberately vague AI narrative and its ~$10B estimated advertising business hiding within a $30B+ services segment
• Meta's underreported Pixel update — using AI to harvest advertiser site data — and critical implications for brand data governance strategy
• Three future scenarios for the AI model landscape, and why a messy, multi-model world requiring data orchestration is the most likely outcome
• Spotify's verified artist program as a response to AI-generated music (Deezer reports 44% of its catalog is AI-generated)
• The Fed holding rates at 3.5–3.75% with an 8-4 dissenting split — the most divided since October 1992
• Inflation and tariff impacts: more likely felt in 2027 than 2026 according to CPG commentary
• Sports as the undeniable anchor of linear TV: Comcast ad revenue up 135% (Super Bowl + Olympics), Rogers media up 82% (Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment), Televisa boosted by early FIFA World Cup pre-buys
• Why every brand likely needs a dedicated sports advertising strategy in 2026 and beyond

Chapter Stamps

00:00 - Introduction & Weekly Overview

02:02 - Big Tech Earnings: Headline Numbers

03:41 - Theme 1: AI-Driven Performance & Pricing Power

06:35 - Theme 2: Structural Share Shift Away from Traditional Media

07:21 - Theme 3: Advertiser Base Expansion & Growth Sectors

10:45 - Theme 4: Agentic Commerce & The Collapsing Purchase Funnel

13:51 - Apple Earnings & The AI Narrative

17:09 - The Three Future Scenarios for AI & Model Landscape

19:16 - Meta's Pixel Expansion & Data Governance Warning

22:07 - Spotify, Streaming & The AI-Generated Content Problem

23:26 - Macro Update: Fed Rate Decision & Inflation

28:20 - Traditional TV Deep Dive: Sports, Comcast, Rogers & Televisa

34:24 - Wrap Up & Closing Remarks