The big match is on the big screen and everyone is buzzing. The biltong is sliced, the drinks are ice cold and the people are bringing the gees. It’s a yellow sea of Bafana Bafana jerseys as we support our boys at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This is the kind of audience and engagement advertisers dream of, with eyeballs glued to the screen for 90 minutes. And for decades, that paid off handsomely.

We’re kicking off something new in the Reach Africa newsletter: Play. Pause. Skip. – a quick, no-frills take on industry trends. Each month, we'll put three topics on the table, and our guest gives their instinctive reaction: Play (let's go!), Pause (let’s see), or Skip (not convinced), along with a quick take on why. First up, it’s our very own Adiela – the lady who needs no introduction.

The data on connected TV’s return on investment is hard to ignore. The slower uptake is harder to explain. By Leslie Adams, Sales Director at Reach Africa Say a marketing medium consistently delivered 30% higher ROI than almost everything else in your media mix, you would surely prioritise it, wouldn’t you? Yet Connected TV (CTV) receives just 7% of total media budgets, despite delivering a knockout punch on returns. According to analytics firm Analytic Partners, that