The winners of Australia's H1 2026 media pitch season

WPP Media and its agency Wavemaker have led Australia's media agency new business in H1 2026, according to the latest New Business Barometer from COMvergence.

The H1 2026 report tracked 105 media account moves and pitches in Australia, representing an estimated USD $660M in media spend.

Of the total, USD $392M related to local pitches and USD $268M related to regional or global pitches. USD $231M (35%) of the spend reviewed was for a retained account.

WPP Media recorded USD $221M in net new business and retentions, ahead of the agency groups. This was driven by local wins including BYD and JLR (formerly Jaguar Land Rover, $16M), and the retentions of L’Oreal ($91M) and Uber ($33M).

READ MORE: Because they're worth it: WPP Media retains L'Oreal media account

WPP Media CEO Aimee Buchanan said the group's growth is driven by curiosity and adaptability, which help unlock opportunities for clients.

“To see that reflected in these results is a credit to our people, the work they put in, our clients and the trust they put in us and the partnerships we've built together.”

Peter Vogel, Wavemaker’s CEO, called the COMvergence recognition “a fantastic achievement for our team” and reflected the trust existing clients continue to have with them and confidence new partners have shown in the agency.

“We're focused on helping brands navigate change and create growth by combining deep client partnerships with the capabilities and thinking needed to turn complexity into opportunity. I’m incredibly proud of our people who consistently deliver amazing work, and innovative thinking for our clients.”

Publicis Media followed with USD $165M in total new business, driven by wins for Samsung ($48M), Lactalis ($28M) and Tourism Australia ($16M).

Dentsu came in third place and recorded USD $4M, with its Tabcorp win ($28.5M) largely offsetting any losses.

When combined together, independent agencies won a total of USD $43M in H1’26.

Looking at the individual agencies, the top 5 were comprised of networks for COMvergence's report.

Wavemaker recorded the largest new-business result, at USD $100M. Zenith followed at $88M, Mindshare came in third at $59M, and Spark Foundry a close fourth at $56M. EssenceMediacom rounded out the top 5 with $32M.

COMvergence noted the largest account moves and pitches assessed in the period were L'Oreal ($91M), Samsung ($48M), the Western Australia Government ($36M), Uber ($33M) and Tabcorp ($29M).

Local pitches accounted for 57% of media spend reviewed in Australia during H1 2026, close to the global figure of 58%.