The Year of Consolidation

After years of fragmentation, consolidation has defined 2025. Not in terms of content output (this is not a retreat from the creator economy), but in structure: fewer jobs, fewer players, and concentrated power have reshaped the media landscape. From Warner Bros. Discovery’s acquisition strategy to Disney’s integration of AI, YouTube’s dominance in audience behavior, and the steady disappearance of truly ad-free experiences, the industry has entered a new phase: more centralized, platform-driven, and profit-focused.

YouTube

YouTube’s position as the dominant platform is now structural, not cyclical. Its expansion across podcasts, short-form video, and long-form programming, combined with sustained capital investment, has effectively turned YouTube into the primary distribution layer for video consumption. For Millennials, Gen Z, and Alpha, it functions less as a platform and more as an operating system for media.

As Evan Shapiro succinctly frames it, YouTube is TV. With nearly 13% of total U.S. television viewership, YouTube now outpaces Disney by 1.5 points and Netflix by five points. More importantly, it leads consumption across formats (short-form, long-form, and news), capturing audience attention that legacy broadcasters and streamers increasingly compete to reclaim.

Read more | Shapiro analysis

Warner Bros. Discovery

For years, the industry speculated that a legacy studio might acquire Netflix — not the other way around. As the $100 billion battle over Hollywood intensifies, Ted Sarandos and David Ellison are competing for influence within a shrinking, consolidating ecosystem. Yet the ultimate decision-maker may be the White House, where regulatory and political considerations could shape the final outcome. Read more

Disney & Sora

In a significant convergence of Hollywood and AI, Disney announced a $1 billion investment in OpenAI, bringing its characters into Sora, OpenAI’s short-form video platform. The three-year deal includes a curated selection of Sora-generated videos streaming on Disney+, giving the service a strong foundation in short-form content, a format central to younger audiences and long dominated by YouTube and TikTok.

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Ad-Free Extinction

With price increases across major streaming platforms, the average American household now spends about $70 per month on subscriptions. Roughly equivalent to what consumers once paid for traditional cable, fully eliminating streaming’s original cost advantage. What began as a low-cost, à-la-carte alternative has become a fragmented, multi-subscription ecosystem with cumulative costs that mirror the legacy model, but without a single bill or clear visibility into total spend.

As ad-free viewing is increasingly positioned as a premium, traditional news organizations are following a similar path. NBC News is launching a new content package, while CNN, under Warner Bros. Discovery, is renewing its focus on a subscription-based digital product that bundles its cable network with on-demand specials and exclusive curated content.

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Looking Ahead

The direction of 2026 is no longer subtle. Consolidation, platform power, and monetization have overtaken creative or format loyalty as the industry’s primary drivers. YouTube’s unchecked dominance, Disney’s deepening investment in AI, accelerating studio consolidation, and the steady erosion of truly ad-free experiences all signal the same outcome: a media economy designed around fewer gatekeepers, narrower narrative pathways, and maximum efficiency at the expense of choice.

The leaders of this next phase will be those who successfully integrate content, technology, and distribution, as audiences adjust to a world where access and choice are rarely free. At Malin Entertainment, we help executives and creatives to navigate structural change. If your strategy for the year ahead isn’t yet clear or feels reactive, it’s time to build one that holds.

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Laura