Magnite this week announced a partnership with NOVA Entertainment to enable programmatic buying across the Nova Retail Network, bringing automated campaign activation to one of Australia's largest in-store audio advertising environments. The announcement, dated March 11, 2026, marks a concrete step in the extension of programmatic infrastructure beyond digital streaming and broadcast radio into physical retail spaces across Australia.

The Nova Retail Network distributes curated audio content and advertising directly to consumers inside retail locations across the country. According to the press release, the network reaches millions of shoppers nationwide, placing audio advertising at the point of purchase - a channel that has historically required direct sales relationships and manual campaign execution. The partnership gives advertisers access to Nova Retail Network's premium Digital Audio inventory through Magnite's sell-side platform, streamlining campaign activation for brands seeking to reach in-store audiences at scale.

The programmatic shift in Australian audio

The deal arrives against a backdrop of significant momentum in programmatic audio adoption across Australia. According to IAB Australia's latest Digital Audio State of the Nation Report, 72% of Australian audio buyers purchased audio programmatically in 2025. That figure, cited in the announcement, represents a substantial share of the market and underscores the degree to which automation has taken hold across the broader audio advertising landscape in Australia - not just in streaming and podcasting, but now extending into in-store environments.

Australia's internet advertising market hit $18.4 billion for the full calendar year 2025, growing 11.5% year-on-year, according to IAB Australia and PwC data. Within that total, audio reached $339 million, up 8.2%, with podcast growth outrunning streaming. The retail category remained the single largest advertiser segment for the fifth consecutive year, commanding a 17.5% share of reported general display spending. That intersection - retail advertising and audio - forms precisely the territory the Magnite-NOVA Entertainment deal seeks to address.

What the partnership involves technically

Magnite, listed on the NASDAQ as MGNI and self-described as the world's largest independent sell-side advertising company, provides the technology infrastructure that connects publishers with buyers across multiple formats including CTV, online video, display, and audio. The partnership routes Nova Retail Network inventory through Magnite's platform, enabling demand-side buyers to transact against in-store audio placements programmatically, in the same fashion they might access streaming audio or podcast inventory.

The technical implication is meaningful. In-store audio networks have traditionally operated as isolated, manually managed channels. Bringing them into programmatic infrastructure requires the publisher - in this case NOVA Entertainment - to expose their inventory through a standardized supply-side interface that buyers can access via real-time bidding or deal-based transactions. The announcement does not specify whether the integration will initially support open auction, private marketplace deals, or programmatic guaranteed buying methods, but each of those mechanisms has distinct characteristics for advertisers in terms of pricing, inventory reservation, and targeting capabilities.

Nicole Bence, Chief Commercial Officer at NOVA Entertainment, described the rationale from the publisher's side: "The Nova Retail Network represents a highly engaging environment where brands can connect with shoppers in real time, and we look forward to being able to deliver greater flexibility, efficiency and scale for our advertising partners."

Yael Milbank, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand at Magnite, framed the deal in terms of contextual relevance: "We're thrilled to be working with NOVA Entertainment to bring programmatic capabilities to the Nova Retail Network and help advertisers reach audiences in the moments that matter most - right at the point of purchase."

NOVA Entertainment's scale and existing programmatic partnerships

NOVA Entertainment is Australia's leading independent audio entertainment business, according to its own description. The company owns and operates the Nova Network, the Smooth FM Network, FIVEAA Adelaide, Star 104.5 NSW Central Coast, and a suite of DAB+ stations including Smooth FM, Smooth Relax, Nova Throwbacks, Nova 90s, and Coles Radio. These broadcast assets are complemented by digital, social, mobile, and podcasting products.

Importantly, this is not the first time NOVA Entertainment has partnered with a technology company to extend its programmatic and targeting capabilities. Triton Digital announced a partnership with NOVA Entertainment in August 2024, integrating Triton's Sounder solution across NOVA's audio portfolio to deliver advanced contextual targeting, enhanced brand suitability measures, and podcast promotional tools. At the time, NOVA boasted the highest total audience of any Australian metro network, reaching almost 6.3 million listeners, according to figures cited in that announcement. The Triton Digital partnership focused on contextual advertising intelligence and brand safety. The Magnite deal addresses a different gap - programmatic transaction infrastructure for the Nova Retail Network specifically.

Magnite's expanding programmatic audio footprint

The NOVA Entertainment deal adds to a series of audio-focused partnerships Magnite has built over recent years. iHeartMedia and Magnite launched a first-of-its-kind omnichannel audio advertising marketplace in January 2024, bringing together broadcast radio, streaming radio, and podcast assets for inclusion in programmatic media buys. That deal gave advertisers access to iHeartMedia's inventory across more than 860 live local broadcast stations, its iHeartRadio digital service, and its podcasting portfolio.

Magnite reported strong Q3 2025 financial results in November 2025, with audio identified as the fastest-growing format within the DV+ segment. Michael Barrett, Magnite's CEO, noted at the time: "Our fastest-growing format in TV+ in the third quarter was audio. We are gaining traction in this area and see it as a significant opportunity in the future." The DV+ segment, which includes display and audio, achieved contribution ex-TAC of $90.9 million in Q3 2025, representing 7% year-over-year growth.

Magnite also unified curation and activation within its ClearLine platform in October 2025, a move designed to reduce technology layers between buyers and publishers and enable campaigns to execute closer to the impression for stronger signal fidelity. ClearLine operates on the same infrastructure as SpringServe, Magnite's video platform with ad serving and programmatic capabilities. That architectural approach - running audio, video, and display deals through the same underlying infrastructure - matters for the Nova Retail Network deal, as in-store audio inventory can in principle be packaged alongside other programmatic formats in unified campaign executions.

More recently, Magnite announced a real-time data integration with Cognitiv for ClearLine in January 2026, enriching the programmatic bidstream with deep learning models for buyers optimizing omnichannel campaigns against specific performance targets. That integration reflects a broader industry direction toward smarter, curated supply rather than sheer scale - a trend discussed at length in programmatic audio predictions for 2026, where Triton Digital's CRO Sharon Taylor argued that successful buyers will focus on curated supply reflecting both brand identity and audience targets.

In-store audio as a distinct programmatic frontier

The distinction between in-store audio and conventional digital audio advertising deserves attention. Streaming platforms like Pandora, Spotify, or SoundCloud deliver audio to individual device-level users, enabling targeting based on user profiles, listening behavior, and first-party data. In-store audio operates differently: it broadcasts to the physical environment of a retail location, reaching audiences defined by their presence in a specific store rather than by device-level identifiers. Attribution and measurement methodologies for in-store audio are consequently distinct from those used in streaming contexts.

That measurement challenge is not unique to audio. VIOOH locked down 5,000 screens in US grocery stores and transit hubs in January 2026, enabling programmatic digital out-of-home access to retail and transit environments. The dynamic shares structural similarities with the Nova Retail Network deal: both involve bringing programmatic automation to physical consumer environments where dwell time, proximity to purchase, and contextual relevance are the primary value propositions - rather than device-based targeting signals. Retail media networks have been embracing real-time bidding for sponsored products since at least mid-2025, and The Trade Desk enabled programmatic retail media buying through a Koddi partnership in October 2025, reflecting a broader industry push to automate and unify retail advertising transactions.

In-store audio adds an audio layer to that conversation. Where digital out-of-home delivers visual impressions to shoppers in aisles and checkout queues, in-store audio reaches the same audience through ambient sound. The combination of both formats, programmatically activated through coordinated demand-side campaigns, represents a logical next step that the Magnite-NOVA deal begins to enable.

Broader industry context

The programmatic audio shifts underway heading into 2026 are not limited to Australia. StackAdapt integrated iHeartMedia broadcast radio into its programmatic platform in November 2025, enabling marketers to plan, forecast, purchase, measure, and report on AM/FM broadcast alongside digital audio formats in a single interface. Viant similarly enabled programmatic access to iHeartMedia's over-the-air broadcast inventory in December 2025, marking the first time OTA broadcast radio became available through Viant's platform.

Amazon DSP and SiriusXM Media expanded programmatic audio reach in September 2025, providing marketers access to SiriusXM's digital audio portfolio, including Pandora and SoundCloud, with 160 million monthly digital listeners accessible through Amazon's demand-side platform. Comscore and The Trade Desk integrated audio measurement capabilities in January 2026, providing demographic insights and incremental reach analytics for audio campaigns. Measurement standardization has been identified across the industry as a prerequisite for closing the well-documented gap between consumer time spent with audio and advertiser investment in the format.

According to data cited across multiple industry analyses, audio accounts for approximately 31% of consumers' total media time while receiving only around 9% of advertising budgets - a structural imbalance that programmatic infrastructure is designed in part to address by reducing friction for buyers and lowering the operational cost of including audio in cross-channel campaigns.

Implications for the marketing community

For marketers operating in Australia, the Magnite-NOVA Entertainment deal creates a new programmatic access point for reaching shoppers at the moment of purchase decision. In-store audio networks have existed for years but were largely inaccessible through the same automated buying workflows used for digital media. The ability to activate Nova Retail Network inventory programmatically - through Magnite's platform - means brands can, in principle, include in-store audio within broader campaign structures rather than managing it as a separate, manually negotiated channel.

The deal also reflects a continuing consolidation of audio inventory behind programmatic sell-side infrastructure. Magnite has assembled a substantial audio portfolio across CTV, online video, display, and now in-store audio formats. Whether buyers will see Nova Retail Network inventory available through the same deal structures as Magnite's other audio products - including through ClearLine's curation and activation capabilities - will depend on the technical implementation details that the announcement does not fully disclose.

The 72% programmatic adoption rate cited from IAB Australia's report provides a demand-side justification for the partnership. Buyers already transacting in Australian audio programmatically represent a natural audience for in-store inventory, provided the activation workflow integrates with their existing technology stack. For NOVA Entertainment, the deal creates incremental demand access beyond what direct sales can reach.

Timeline

Summary

Who: Magnite (NASDAQ: MGNI), the world's largest independent sell-side advertising company, and NOVA Entertainment, Australia's leading independent audio entertainment business. Key spokespersons include Nicole Bence, Chief Commercial Officer at NOVA Entertainment, and Yael Milbank, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand at Magnite.

What: A partnership enabling programmatic access to the Nova Retail Network - an in-store audio advertising network reaching millions of shoppers across retail locations in Australia. The deal allows advertisers to access Nova Retail Network's premium Digital Audio inventory through Magnite's sell-side platform, streamlining campaign activation in a channel that previously required direct, manual buying relationships.

When: Announced on March 11, 2026, from Sydney.

Where: Australia. The Nova Retail Network operates across retail locations nationwide. Magnite has offices in Sydney as part of its broader APAC footprint, alongside operations across North America, EMEA, and LATAM.

Why: The partnership reflects growing demand for programmatic automation across audio channels in Australia, where 72% of audio buyers transacted programmatically in 2025 according to IAB Australia's Digital Audio State of the Nation Report. The deal extends programmatic infrastructure into physical retail audio environments - a segment distinct from streaming and broadcast radio - creating new automated pathways for brands to reach consumers at the point of purchase.

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