The research engine

PathWave

The research and analytics engine behind every MediaPath plan. Deep, defensible intelligence on the categories you pitch, so your team walks into the room already knowing the answer.

The operating system

Watch it think.

PathWave · Research engine Live
Named sources in, one defensible brief out
Why we built it

Win the pitch before you walk in.

Pitches are won by the team that knows the category cold: the numbers, the shifts, the white space. We built PathWave™ to turn weeks of desk research into a sourced report your planners can defend line by line.

30+Verticals modeled, end to end.
100sOf named sources synthesized into every report.
Days→hrsResearch turnaround on every brief.
CitedEvery figure sourced, dated, audit-grade by default.

The research behind every report: industry-standard sources fused with our own first-party data.

eMarketerStatistaNielsenComscoreKantarGWIMRI‑SimmonsPew ResearchIABMAGNA+ your first‑party data
The granularity

Built around the verticals you pitch.

No category averages. A current, specific read on the category that’s on the brief. Hover a vertical to see what we track.

QSR

Daypart demand, LTO launch curves, and the CTV-vs-OOH split that actually drives footfall.

Retail

Retail-media returns, promo calendars, and the path from impression to basket.

Auto

Long consideration windows, in-market triggers, and dealer-vs-OEM spend.

Finance

Compliance-safe targeting, trust signals, and true cost of acquisition by product.

CPG

Penetration vs loyalty, retail-media ROAS, and the shelf-to-screen loop.

Travel

Booking-window seasonality, destination demand, and the real value of intent.

Healthcare

Audience suitability, condition-safe contextual, and DTC-vs-HCP reach.

B2B tech

Account-based reach, long funnels, and the channels that move real pipeline.

Entertainment

Premiere windows, fandom targeting, and attention by format.

Telco

Switcher triggers, regional demand, and retention-vs-acquisition economics.

What it changes

Ready before
the room fills.

PathWave™ doesn’t replace your planners. It arms them with the category’s real numbers, on tap, the moment a brief lands.

Prepared

Category numbers, trendlines, and gaps mapped before the first internal meeting, not the night before the pitch.

Faster

Research that took weeks takes hours. More pitches, sharper answers, in the same week.

Credible

Every claim is sourced and dated, so the work holds up under a client’s scrutiny. And it ships under your brand, every time.

The State of Digital Media 2026 — a MediaPath research report
Featured research · 2026

The State of
Digital Media.

Where audiences went, where to plan, and what’s working in 2026. The forces dissolving channel boundaries, five lenses on every channel, and a way to plan for one addressable ecosystem.

  • What changed — four governing forces redrawing the market
  • The channels — five lenses: consumption, time, composition, measurability, fragmentation
  • What to do — planning for one addressable ecosystem in 2026
48 pages · Published May 2026 · Free with a work email

Put PathWave™ behind your next pitch.

The research operating system for independent agencies. Deep, sourced, pitch-ready.