News Corp Australia has launched a retail media division through its agency Suddenly, opening BWS in-store screens to outside advertisers. More than a third of the network sits in regional Australia, reaching markets out-of-home usually misses.
Every retailer with foot traffic and a screen is now an advertising business whether it meant to be one or not.
News Corp Australia has launched a retail media division inside its content agency Suddenly, and its first deal opens Endeavour Group's BWS bottle shops to advertisers who do not sell booze. In retail media language that is non-endemic inventory, brands paying to reach shoppers in a store that sells something else entirely.
The BWS network runs more than 300 screens nationally, and more than a third of them sit in regional Australia. That is the part worth noticing. Regional reach is exactly what traditional out-of-home struggles to deliver at scale. The division is run by Jennifer Stokes, and Suddenly says more retail media partnerships are coming this year.
BWS screens in the new network, with more than a third in regional Australia, reaching shoppers out-of-home usually misses. Source: Mi3 and Mumbrella, June 2026.
Why it matters
Retail media is the fastest growing slice of the Australian ad market, and the inventory keeps multiplying. Coles and Woolworths built the first networks. Now a publisher is stitching together someone else's stores. For a brand, that means more places to spend and more sellers claiming their screens convert.
The risk is obvious. More inventory does not mean more attention. A screen above the beer fridge is only worth what it actually moves, and most retail media reporting comes from the people selling the space. That is grading their own homework.
What to do about it
The screens will keep multiplying. The discipline of proving each one earns its place is what separates spend from waste.