'Pretty epic for a small indie': How T&T Media beat the holding companies to Stan.'s ad break

It's rare for a small independent agency to beat the country's biggest holding companies to a launch deal, but that's what happened when Stan. opened its new ad tier to a shortlist of just 12 partners. 

“They signed on very quickly. I think it's pretty epic for a small indie in Sydney to be amongst it - which I think is amazing,” Pete Stowe, Head of Trading at T&T Media told Mediaweek.

T&T Media has secured two of the 12 launch partner packages it says were made available nationally for Stan.'s new ad tier, which went live on 3 August 2026, putting two of the agency's clients among the first brands to advertise on Stan. outside Stan. Sport as the streaming platform introduced advertising across its entertainment slate for the first time.

T&T Media has not named the two clients, and Nine, which owns Stan., has not independently confirmed the total number of launch partner packages available for the tier.

READ MORE: Nine to launch advertising on Stan. with new ad-supported tier

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How the deal came together

"They've gone to market with the ad tier, which is pretty much like Netflix," Stowe said. "No one's seen Stan. go there before. Then they went to market with agencies looking to get involved, and we took it to two of our clients."

Stowe said the speed of the decision reflected how ready brands already were to put money behind SVOD advertising. Ad-supported streaming, he added, was fast becoming standard practice rather than an experiment, with platforms like Stan closer to the new norm for streaming than a future prospect.

"It used to be that only the big holdcos got the invites to the big ones," Stowe said. "So we're very excited at T&T Media that we've got involved with it."

Nine's ad-supported push into Stan

Nine announced on 3 June 2026 that it would introduce advertising to Stan. for the first time beyond Stan Sport, through a new entry-level plan called Basic with Ads. Priced at $9.99 per month and including HD streaming, the plan sits alongside Stan's existing ad-free tiers.

Amanda Laing, Managing Director of Streaming and Broadcast at Nine, said at the time that "a lower-priced entry point with HD streaming broadens access to Stan and helps us reach more Australians." Matt James, Nine's Chief Sales Officer, said "ads on Stan. will allow brands to reach audiences with greater scale, precision and impact."

Nine said advertising on Stan. would launch with a light ad load, supported by its first-party data and audience intelligence capability, giving brands the ability to plan and activate campaigns across the 9Network, 9Now, Stan. Entertainment and Sport, Publishing, Digital, 9Podcast, and QMS Media. 

Independent agencies chase early scale

"I think it's a great opportunity for any indie," Stowe said. 

"The moment we heard about it, we jumped on it straight away, and they were pretty accommodating - they let us get involved, which is fantastic. We get the same opportunities that everyone gets. Gone are the days of missing out on this or that, missing out on all these cool media firsts that the holdcos always get. Not anymore - you get to do these."

"Why are they coming to us?" Stowe said. "At the end of the day, we still find it's the best - you get the best service level, and a lot of the time, you're talking to the owner directly."

Stan. continues to offer its ad-free plans alongside Basic with Ads, and Nine says more detail on the wider rollout will follow as the tier scales beyond its initial dozen partners. As for why an agency most people haven't heard of keeps landing wins like this, Stowe isn't precious about the answer.

"That's why you've not heard of us - because we lie very low," he said. "But if you scream and shout, people come and take your clients."

Joking, but not really.