Media Predictions Report 2025

The competition has only grown more fierce

One year ago, we began our first annual AlixPartners Media Predictions Report by stating that “the media and entertainment industry has always been a poster child of creative destruction.”

Fast-forward to year two, and that sentence continues to ring true—in fact, the destruction and competition may have only grown fiercer.

To start, we’re witnessing a far more robust environment for M&A activity in 2025. As interest rates continue to drop, and legacy media businesses struggle to adapt to an evolving ecosystem, we expect consolidation to pick up across industry segments as leaders swallow up smaller competitors for their audience bases, tech stacks, or simply to build scale.

AI advances have further penetrated the TV and film industries and are aiming to redefine the future of search. Practical, easy-to-implement use cases with measurable outcomes will lead the way in 2025. We don’t expect the technology to replace human talent, it should only enhance and simplify processes.

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We lay out our second annual AlixPartners Media Predictions Report across seven chapters. As we enter 2025, we believe our seven core predictions will shape the direction of the industry:

1. Streaming wars: The battle to win the next generation of TV

2025 prediction: Consolidation is coming: as industry players continue to experiment with strategic partnerships, bundling, and wholesale distribution, three to five winners will emerge as the go-to hubs for next-generation TV.

2. Beyond the console: Video gaming's cloud revolution

2025 prediction: Both gaming consoles and PC hardware sales will decline, as consumers choose to spend instead on displays and streaming devices. 

3. AI in creative industries: Enhancing, rather than replacing, human creativity in TV and film

2025 prediction: AI will transform the production cycle—not by eliminating creative jobs, but by redefining roles and sparking new synergies between creative teams and technology. 

4. Retail media's next frontier: Transforming the advertising landscape

2025 prediction: Retail media will expand globally and redefine ad strategies, creating a seamless experience that merges shopping behavior with media consumption. 

5. The future of search: AI-driven disruption, democratization, and diversification

2025 prediction: Emerging search platforms like ChatGPT and TikTok will gain further traction in 2025, eroding Google’s share and signaling a new era of competition in the search industry.

6. Sports betting and casino gaming: Fund tech investments or face marginalization

2025 prediction: Larger sports betting and casino gaming players will leverage their scale and tech advantages to absorb smaller competitors, setting the stage for a new era of hyper-personalized betting experiences.