Must-buy Christmas ad slots already wrapped up

It’s been a turbulent year for the advertising market, but it’s here in the fourth quarter that the real profits are made

The 2019 advertising market started poorly. The backdrop of Brexit uncertainty was pervasive. But it has rallied in the last six months. Dentsu Aegis chief executive Liam McDonnell says it’s been a year of two halves. “It’s definitely picked up as we moved through the year,” he told me. “We’ve seen a clear Christmas dividend, with good growth in the last quarter.”

For Dentsu, a significant development has been the widening of the ...