Amazon has officially cemented its status as the ‘biggest advertiser on Earth.’ The online giant has reported their annual ad spend has soared to $11bn- an increase of $2.8 billion year on year. Th e-commerce site now accounts for nearly 2% of all global ad expenditure and ranks fourth in the world by digital sales, behind Google, Facebook and Alibaba. Read more here.

BT have announced their plans to roll out flexible TV packages to compete in the streaming wars. BT have launched a range of subscription options that allow customers to choose the TV shows, films and sport they want, with the flexibility to change their package each month. The platform gives access to streaming services such as Netflix, alongside packages such as Sky Sports and Now TV. Find out more here.

Magnetic recently hosted ‘Spark North’, which involved presenting research on the value of attention for advertisers and the implications for planners and advertisers. Magnetic is the marketing agency for consumer magazines across the UK, and conduct research into how to create optimum results when investing in magazine advertising. Members of the Boutique team headed to Manchester for the event, and listened to a number speakers who demonstrated why attention matters and the role magazines play in the modern marketing mix. Find out more about Spark North here.

ITV have announced they are on the hunt for a new sponsor for Coronation Street, marking the end of its partnership with Comparethemarket.com in November. The soap opera is offering an on-and off-air package that will include broadcast, online, mobile and licensing formats. The show currently pulls in an average audience of 6.9 million viewers per episode according to ITV, and the lucky sponsor will be included in the 60^th anniversary activity for the soap opera which will be coming up towards the end of the year. Read more here.

Finally, it has been reported that there has been a rise in the number of listeners tuning into radio online, resulting in commercial stations increased audience share by 0.5% year on year to 46.6%. Online listening has been recorded as the fastest-growing area for radio, up 33% on the same period in the previous year. Among the highly competitive breakfast shows, Heart remains the commercial leader after it’s national launch in June 2019. Find out more here.