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Stagwell (STGW) Unveils Official News Network as an Extension of its Future of News Initiative, Allowing Clients Direct Access to Leading News Publishers
The Stagwell News Network launches in partnership with eight premier publishers
New study of 7,000+ U.S. adults finds rising news consumption and greater ad lift among the most engaged news audiences, reinforcing the value of advertising in news.
Research to be built upon throughout Future of News programming at Cannes Lions
NEW YORK, June 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced the launch of the Stagwell News Network, a private marketplace (PMP) associated with its Future of News initiative. As Stagwell continues to drive greater investment into news by bringing together leaders from marketing and news media around data and forward-looking discussions, the News Network will give Stagwell clients unique access to publishers – strengthening Stagwell's ability to deliver premium news inventory and performance-driven solutions for clients.
Stagwell launched the Future of News Initiative to spark an industry-wide conversation about the need – and the opportunity – to invest in quality news.
The News Network's launch partners are Newsweek, Nexstar, NPR, Ozone, RealClear Politics, The Associated Press, The Washington Post, and TIME.
This announcement coincides with Stagwell and the Future of News initiative's expanded presence at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025. Leading up to the festival, Stagwell today unveiled new ad performance-based research, conducted by Stagwell's research consultancy HarrisX among 7,126 U.S. adults, that reveals a clear loss in campaign reach and effectiveness when foregoing news advertising.
Key findings from the study include:
News Consumers are High-Impact Audiences
News Junkies — roughly 80.4 million U.S. adults who follow the news 'very closely' — view brands more positively than less engaged audiences across seven key brand and reputation metrics, including purchase intent, favorability, likelihood to recommend, and trustworthiness.
Among News Junkies, a key target group for advertisers, the average purchase intent for 20 brand ads tested across technology, travel/hospitality, CPG, financial services, and automotive, was 66%— compared to 50% among the rest of the general population.
13.8% of U.S. adults, or approximately 36.8 million individuals, are Exclusive News Junkies, defined as those who follow the news 'very closely' but do not closely follow sports or entertainment.
Exclusive New Junkies show greater post-ad exposure lift than the rest of the general population, making it clear they are an underserved advertising audience who responds to ads.
News Engagement is Growing
Since 2024, Exclusive News Junkies have grown in population size by approximately 7.2 million U.S. adults, now making up 13.8% of the general population compared to 11.1% a year ago.
Nearly 60% of News Junkies and Exclusive News Junkies now follow the news more closely than they did a year ago.
News Junkies and Exclusive News Junkies are now paying particularly more attention to political, international, and economic news than a year ago.
"This research shows that campaigns including news in the media mix consistently outperform those that forego news, and as the population of Exclusive News Junkies expands, brands that ignore news advertising are missing the opportunity to drive real results," said Stagwell Chairman and CEO Mark Penn.
Since beginning news-focused testing in the second half of 2023, Stagwell has seen 2024 campaigns deliver three times the average return on ad spend (ROAS). According to Stagwell agency Assembly's Media Mix Model, news delivers commercial impact, with three times higher ROAS than other paid media channels, and 136% transaction growth for a leading global logistics business.
"We're turning insight into action--from debuting new research for Cannes that proves the power of news audiences, to launching the Stagwell News Network with eight leading publishers, and hosting the first-ever NewsFronts event this October. We're doubling down on the power of news as a critical platform for marketers and advertisers," added Alexis Williams, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Stagwell.
Join the Future of News team for programming throughout Cannes Lions:
About Stagwell Stagwell is the challenger holding company built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world's most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
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