Principal media buying has moved from a quiet industry practice to a very public flashpoint.
While much of the current discussion focuses on digital and programmatic channels, principal media spans the full media ecosystem, from traditional linear channels to programmatic marketplaces.
The practice has long existed across traditional media—broadcast, cable, radio, and outdoor—where agencies could leverage scale to secure and resell inventory. What’s changed is not the existence of principal buying, but its scale, complexity, and the degree to which it now sits at the center of agency economics.
This is an extremely sensitive topic, but the recent surge in reporting, coupled with broader industry tension, makes it clear: this once-niche practice is reshaping the economics and the trust dynamics of our business.
The case for principal media
Those that support principal media largely point to cost efficiency. And that is, in many cases, true. Some marketers may see 10%–15% savings versus open-market buying.
But the advantage runs deeper than that.
When price becomes disproportionately weighted in an agency review, those agencies with scaled principal media practices have a structural edge.
Not just because they can offer lower pricing, but because the profits generated through principal media can subsidize other services—sometimes significantly. It’s not uncommon to see teams provided at no charge for a period as part of a broader commercial arrangement.
In this environment, clients seeking cost extraction as a primary goal will naturally gravitate toward agencies with scaled principal offerings.
There’s also a second-order benefit. The profits generated through principal media can be reinvested into capabilities—whether through acquisitions or in-house development—that strengthen an agency’s competitive position.
Consider the scale of investment some holding companies are now making in AI and data infrastructure. Those investments are not happening in a vacuum.
The case against principal media
The concerns around principal media are well-documented and deeply interconnected.
The most visible issue is lack of transparency, due to hidden fees, undisclosed margins, and opaque pricing structures.
While some agencies disclose their margins on principal media, many do not—unless explicitly required by contract. According to the ANA, only 57% of marketers have governance rules in place around this practice.
I saw this firsthand. During the onboarding of a major retail client, we discovered their media flowcharts showed only aggregate costs—no partner-level detail. When pressed, the incumbent agency declined to disclose rates, arguing they “belonged to the agency.”
