Thinkbox
In the process of judging the Thinkbox TV Planning Awards, I've read 111 entries from across the industry.
That's about 150,000 words.
About the length of A Tale of Two Cities.
I've literally read the book on TV planning in 2026.
Let me tell you what I've learned.
1. TV isn't just spots and slots (if it ever was)
A huge proportion of the entries this year have moved beyond TV as a delivery mechanism and into TV as a communications ecosystem.
Brand content appears inside TV and TV IP appears within the brand comms. Content starts on TV and is stretched into social, and content starts on social and scales on TV. Product placement normalises previously fringe behaviours and existing behaviours become commercial opportunities. TV is retail media and social media and addressable media and performance media.
The best entries are using TV to build worlds.
2. Addressable TV has come of age and data is everywhere
We talked at our recent “TV Now and Next” event about the fact that this year, two thirds of TV inventory will be addressable and that’s been evident in the entries.
Almost every paper had an element of addressability in it, not just the new category dedicated to TV addressability. Data availability and capability is now so widespread that TV offers all the elegance and smarts of the very best digital platforms.
We've seen micro-targeting, closed loop sales models, new attribution techniques, dynamic creative, AI creative and more. All delivered, not on a five-inch screen and scrolled past, but on the biggest screen in the house as a shared and trusted experience.
3. TV can work for all types of brands
This year’s awards cover everyone from household names to start up brands. The smallest spender was 6,000 times lower than the highest and TV delivered for them both. That’s the difference between the population of Tenby and the population of the whole of the UK.
We’ve seen TV work for national brands, regional brands, local brands and brands just targeting a handful of postcodes. We’ve seen TV work as well for immediate performance as it does for multi-year ROI. For awareness and consideration and desire. For reappraisal and for relaunches. Behaviour change, sales growth and innovation.
Total TV is now such a broad tent, can be used in so many different ways and is effective for everyone.
4. TV connects with all kinds of people
Study after study has shown that TV is consistently the most trusted medium for all audiences, including youth audiences. And this year’s entries have really shown that TV can deliver results regardless of the target audience.
We all know about the ability TV has to target niche audiences, but the connections we’ve seen from youth brands and digitally-native brands are exceptional. TV has appeared as a platform for reappraisal and growth when social doesn’t deliver, for transforming established brands, and for creating emotional engagement for young audiences.
Often entries are blurring the lines between channels and simply meeting their audience in the places they spend time with content that connects.
5. TV remains the home of culture
You’d expect to see references to culture or community in categories like TV sponsorship or content. But across the entries this year there’s a real sense of how TV informs, reflects and creates culture.
From brands using the shared experiences that TV offers to talk to a whole family to brands using TV to talk to niche communities and plug into sub-cultures, advertisers have used TV to put themselves into cultural moments, to create new codes with the talent from TV and to facilitate new societal norms.
In a world of fragmentation and isolating algorithmic feeds, the industry clearly recognises the power of togetherness to drive impact. TV offers the shared, repeated viewing that creates memories and embeds itself into real culture.
The TV Planning Award winners will be announced at a ceremony on Wednesday 8th July.