媒体争夺流量、利润与掌控权的新较量2026

Media’sNewFight

forEyeballs,Profits,

andControl

October2026

USmediarevenuesappeartobehealthierthanever,withrevenuereachingarecordof$631billionafterabriefdipin2020...

USmediaindustry

NOMINALREVENUE($B)1

436

34

29

41

79

52

200

631

5.4%

596

52

一5.8%

534

487

45

556

47

50

91

(8%)109(17%)

451

425

35

46

58

37

37

45

77

72

56

22

66

41

63

65

65

80

76

60

36

76

70

80

67

74

82

71

78

(12%)

85

(14%)

75

(12%)

199192

206218

217

229

230(37%)

2018

20192020

20212022

2023

2024

2025

Audio

Socialmedia

Gaming

Print

LBE

Video

CAGR

2018-2025

6%

21%

10%

1%

2%

5%

Keyinsights

•TheUSmediamarketreachedarecordof$631billionin

revenuein2025,growingat5.4%CAGRsince2018

•Themarketrecoveredfromitsone-off2020decline,driven

primarilybyslowdownsinliveentertainmentandtheater

•Videoremainsthecoremediaformat,with$230billionin

revenue(37%ofthemarket)butonly2%growthperyear

•Socialmediaisthefastest-

growingsegment,expandingat21%CAGRsince2018

Sources:Omdia;Magna;AmpereAnalysis;Statista;GrandViewResearch;Emarketer;companyreports.

Note:LBE=location-basedentertainment.

1Includesbothsubscriptionandadvertisingrevenues.

1Includesbothsubscriptionandadvertisingrevenues.

...butgrowthisanillusionbecauseadjustingforinflationandincreasesinpopulationreducesitfrom5.4%tojust0.8%

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

USMEDIAREVENUE,NOMINALVS.INFLATIONADJUSTED($B)1

631

596

556

Inflation-drivenupliftwidenedsharplyafter2021asCPIspikes

139

534

119

451

8

487

36

10

76

14

98

425

13

8

27

436

31

19

5

451

461

441

438

444

436

405

439

20182019202020212022202320242025

CAGR,2018-2025

+5.4%

+1.7%

+0.8%

Nominal

revenue

Inflation-adjustedrevenue

Population-andinflation-adjusted

revenue

Sources:Omdia;Magna;AmpereAnalysis;Statista;GrandViewResearch;Emarketer;USBureauofLaborStatistics;companyreports.

Note:CPI=ConsumerPriceIndex;CPI-U=CPIforAllUrbanConsumers.AdjustedCAGRiscalculatedusingCPI-Uannualaverages.TheCPI-Ufor2025isanestimatebecausethefull-yearaverageisnotyetfinalized.Thebaseyearis2018.Becauseofrounding,notallnumbersadduptothetotalsshown.

Consumerattentionhasalsostalledatabout25hoursperweek

Totalmediaconsumptionhasbeenrelativelyflatsince2018...

USACTIVEMEDIACONSUMPTIONBYFORMAT,HOURSPERWEEK

一0.5%

26.2

1%

11%

8%

13%

26.2

1%

8%

7%

19%

26.5

25.5

1%

8%

8%

19%

25.3

2%

11%

25.3

2%

12%

9%

9%

22%

6%

25.5

24.9

2%

12%

8%

12%

1%

0%

9%

8%

10%

8%

8%

16%

13%

18%

21%

5%

21%

4%

21%

5%

22%

5%

21%

21%

4%

20%

4%

4%

41%

41%

40%

40%

40%

40%

40%

40%

20182019202020212022202320242025

CAGR

2018-2025

LBE+3.4%

Socialmedia+6.6%

Gaming+2.1%

Print一10.5%

Audio+0.1%YouTube+7.8%

Video1一0.7%

Video(total)2+0.2%

...yetgamingandsocialmediagainedshareasconsumers’habitsfragmented

•Totalactivemediatimehas

beenflattoslightlydeclining,

from26.2hoursperweekin2018to25.3in2025

•Whilevideoremainsthelargestsegment,accountingforabout

46%ofconsumers’mediatime,growthwasconcentratedin

YouTube(+7.8%CAGRand14%ofoverallvideotime),whiletherestofvideodeclinedby0.7%

•GrowthinLBEisdisplacingwork,rest,andnonmedialeisureactivities3

•Socialmediaandgamingare

likelytakingsharefromvideo(forexample,YouTube)andprint

LBESocialmediaGamingPrintAudioYouTubeVideo1

Sources:USBureauofLaborStatisticsAmericanTimeUseSurvey,2018–2025microdata;PQMediaGlobalConsumerUsageForecast,2026–2030;Emarketer;Activate;BCGanalysis.Note:LBE=location-basedentertainment.TotalmediahoursperweekreflectsBLSAmericanTimeUseSurvey’sprimaryactivitydatafrom2018through2025.ModalitypercentagebreakdownswerederivedfromBCG’sanalysisandappliedtoBLStotals.Datafor2020isestimated(aBLSAmericanTimeUseSurveywasnotconducted).

1ExcludingYouTube.2CAGRbasedonYouTubeandvideototalconsumptionfrom2018through2025.3BCG’sMediaSurvey2026.

Thegrowthintimespentwithmediawasfrombackgroundattention,drivenbyacceleratedmultitasking

TIMESPENTUSINGMEDIA(HOURSPERWEEK)1

CAGRORCHANGE

INHOURS,2018-2025

>

一0.2%>

+2.5%

Preferredbackgroundmediawhenbusyorcommuting2

92.2

92.2

+1%or+6hoursperweek

91.6

91.6

91.5

91.4

86.9

85.5

65.6

66.3

66.6

66.7

66.1

25.3

SHAREOFRESPONDENTSWHORANKEDAFORMATAMONGTHEIRTOPTHREEPREFERENCES(%)

61.4

59.3

Backgroundattention

65.4

Music66

TVorshows49

+2%or+7hoursperweek

Podcasts31

26.2

26.2

26.5

25.3

25.5

25.5

24.9

Onlinevideo28Audioistheprimary

Focusedattention

一1%or一1hourperweek

backgroundmedium

Socialmedia24

2020

2018

2021

2023

2019

2024

2025

2022

Sources:USBureauofLaborStatisticsAmericanTimeUseSurvey,2018–2025microdata;ActivateConsumerTimeandAttentionReport,2018–2026;BCG’sMediaSurvey2026.1Valuesarethetotalnumberofhoursspentwithmediaperweek.Mediaisvideo,audio,gaming,print,andsocialmediaandshort-formvideo,aswellaslocation-based

entertainment,perBLSATUSactivitycodes.Becauseofrounding,notallnumbersadduptothetotalsshown.2BasedonBCG’sMediaSurvey2026;n=750.

Respondentswhosaid

thatincreasingthetime

spentonamedia

activitydisplacestheir

timespentwithanother

mediamodality,rather

thanwork,rest,orother

nonmediaactivity

Growthinonemediamodalitycomesattheexpenseofothermodalities,extendingthebattlegroundforattention

61%

SHAREOFRESPONDENTSWHOCUTBACKONANOTHERMEDIAACTIVITYVS.THOSEWHOCUTBACKONANONMEDIAACTIVITY(%)

Listeningtoaudiobooks7228

Watchingonlinevideo6535

WatchingTVormovies6337

Goingtothemovies6337

Listeningtopodcasts6337

Playingvideogames6139

UsingAItools6040

Watchingsocialmediavideos5941

Readingnewsletters5941

Readingnewspapers5842

Listeningtomusic5842

Watchinglivestreams5545

Attendingliveevents4555

Everyactivity

exceptliveeventsseesover50%

mediareplacement

Attendinglive

eventsistheonlyactivitywhere

nonmediatime(55%)outweighsmedia(45%)

ReplacedamediaactivityReplacedanonmediaactivity

Source:BCG’sMediaSurvey2026.

Note:n=375eligible.

Themeparks,print,andsocialearnedmorerevenuethantheirshareoftimeimplies,andtheoppositewastrueforradioandstreaming

100

50

0

SHAREOFREVENUE(INDEXED,LINEARTV=100)

LinearTV

Socialmedia

Themeparksisthemost

efficientcategory(abouttwo

timesasefficientasothers)

Videostreaming

(excludingYouTube)

Mobilegaming

Themeparks

Magazines

Books

Newspapers

Podcasts

Musicstreaming

YouTubeandradiocapturelargeattention

Radio

YouTube

sharesbutrelativelylimitedrevenue,suggestingmonetizationheadroom

020406080100

SHAREOFTIME(INDEXED,LINEARTV=100)

●VideoAudioΔGamingPrinteLBESocialmedia

Sources:ActivateConsumerTimeandAttentionReport,2018–2026;PQMedia;Emarketer;Omdia;Magna;AmpereAnalysis;Statista;GrandViewResearch;IMDb;companyreports;BCG’sMediaSurvey2026;BCGanalysis.

Note:n=750.LBE=location-basedentertainment.Indexedusingeachmodality’srawsharedividedbylinearTV’srawshare(or100).LinearTVisthelargestmodalitybybothtimeandrevenue.Clusterofmodalitiesonbottomleftaxisincludeslivesports,audiobooks,virtualreality,personalcomputers,cinema,console,theater,livemusic,physicallyrecordedmusic,andphysicalvideo(suchasDVDsandBlu-raydiscs).

LBEcommandsthehighestrevenueyield,whilevideo’sandaudio’spassivebackgroundconsumptiongeneratethelowest

REVENUEPERHOUROFATTENTIONBYMEDIAMODALITY($)

Higheryieldisconsistentwithconsumers’higherwillingnesstopayfor

$3.47

community-orientedexperiences

$0.74

LBE1Print

Gamingandsocialmediagenerate

threetofourtimesaudio’srevenue

yield,whichisconsistentwith

direct-responseadvertisingand

recurringdigitalspending

$0.70$0.69

GamingSocialmedia

Longer,less-focusedconsumption,

usuallyinpassiveorbackground

contexts,dilutesvideo’sand

audio’srevenueperhour

$0.39

$0.19

Audio

Video

Sources:ActivateConsumerTimeandAttentionReport,2018–2026;PQMedia;Emarketer;Omdia;Magna;AmpereAnalysis;Statista;GrandViewResearch;IMDb;companyreports;BCG’sMediaSurvey2026;BCGanalysis.

Note:n=750.LBE=location-basedentertainment.Tocalculaterevenueperhourofattention,wedividedtotal2025revenueforeachmodalitybytotal2025hoursconsumersspentwiththatmodality.Totalrevenueforeachmodalitydividedbytotalconsumerhoursspentinthatmodalityforayear(2025),truedupfromhoursspentonmodalityperweek.

1Onlyincludesticketsales;excludesconcession-relatedsales.

Videohadthelargestrevenuepoolbutcapturedjust15%ofmedia

growthsince2018,whilesocialmediaandgaminghad59%combined

Socialmediaand

+$80gamingaccountfor

59%ofrevenuegrowth

59%

74%

86%

LBE’slownumberof

hourscapits

95%

98%

40%+$37

+$31

potentialgrowth

+$14

YouTube+$23

+$18

+$17

Video2

+$6

$90$75$60$45$30$15$0

NOMINALREVENUEGROWTH,2018-2025($B)1SHAREOFGROWTH(CUMULATIVE)

SocialmediaGamingVideoLBEAudioPrint

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Shareofgrowth

40%

19%

15%

12%

9%

2%

Revenue2025

$109B

$78B

$230B

$75B

$52B

$85B

Sources:Omdia;Magna;AmpereAnalysis;Statista;GrandViewResearch;Emarketer;companyreports.

Note:LBE=location-basedentertainment.

1Includesbothsubscriptionandadvertisingrevenues.2ExcludesYouTube.

Video’sslowerrevenuegrowthhasreduceditsprofitlead,fallingfrom77%to34%since2018,whilesocialmedia’ssharehassurgedto55%

REVENUEANDPROFITSHARESOFUSVIDEO,AUDIO,ANDSOCIALMEDIA(%)

2018

In2018,revenueandprofitshares

7677

werealignedandvideowasaclear

leaderinboth,withaprofitof$51B

(vs.about$9Bforaudioandroughly

$7Bforsocialmedia)

1110

1313

Socialmedia

VideoAudio

2025

Videorevenuegrew2%annually,

butfastergrowthinaudioand

socialmediareducedits

revenueshareby17pp

Videoremainsarevenueleader,

butsocialmediahasovertaken

itinshareofprofit,growingto

fivetimesits2018share

59

55

34

28

11

13

Video

Socialmedia

Audio

ShareofrevenueShareofprofit

Sources:AmpereAnalysis;SNLKagan;Emarketer;companySECfilingsandpublicdisclosures;MoffettNathanson;TheInformation;RIAA;NationalMusicPublishers’Association;IAB;PwC;Omdia;GEMS;Audacy;BCGanalysis.

Note:Profitswerecalculatedbymultiplyingmodality-levelrevenuesbytheircorrespondingEBITDAmargins.Marginsreflectrevenue-weightedaveragesofmarginsfromarepresentativesetofcompaniesthatcontributeover50%ofeachmodality’stotalrevenue.

Acrosseachmodality,scaleddistributorsthatownedthepointofconsumerchoicecapturedthemostvalue

COMBINEDUSVIDEO,AUDIO,ANDSOCIALMEDIANOMINALPROFITBYVALUECHAINPOSITION,2018-2025($M)

Keyinsights

63,381102,078

Creatorprofitsaredeclining,but

notuniformly

Oncesimilar,audioproduction

+136%

+34%

+7%

66,391

一2%

marginshavesincepulledawayandarenowroughlydoublethoseof

studios’margins(21%vs.11%)

一843

一68%

Distributiononlypaysoffatscale

一7%

一24,441

Acrossmodalities,scaledplatform

一2,411

profitshavegrownseventimessince2018,ledbysocialplatformssuch

asInstagram

Scaled

distribution

platforms

2018Content

creatorsandIPowners

Legacypackaginganddistributor

Newentrantsandsubscaledistributors

2025

Legacy

packagingand

distribution

profitshavebeencutinhalf

TerrestrialradioandlinearTVplayersremainshutoutoftheconsumer

choicethatnowdrivesvalue

SocialmediaVideoAudio

Sources:AmpereAnalysis;SNLKagan;Emarketer;companySECfilingsandpublicdisclosures;MoffettNathanson;TheInformation;RIAA;NationalMusicPublishers’Association;

IAB;PwC;Omdia;Audacy;BCGanalysis.

Note:IP=intellectualproperty;vMVPD=virtualmultichannelvideoprogrammingdistributor.Profitssummedfromthesubmodalitylevel(EBITDAtimesrevenue).CreatorsandIPownersandlegacydistributionareassignedonepositioneach(e.g.,recordedmusic,podcasts,orstudios;terrestrialradio,theater,vMVPD,ornetworks).Streamingissplitbyscale(e.g.,Peacockassubscale;SpotifyandNetflixasscaled);andsatelliteradio,socialmedia,andYouTubefallunderscaleddistribution.Revenueisfromthird-partysources;marginsarerevenue-weightedaveragesofcompaniesrepresentingmorethan50%ofcategoryrevenueorbest-availableestimatewhereunavailable.

Video’svaluepoolhasshrunkby$15.6billionsince2018,whilestudiosandcablealsosawfallingprofits

USVIDEONOMINALPROFITBYMODALITY,SHAREOFTOTALCHANGE,2018-2025($M)

Contentproduction

Aggregators

Distributors

50,817

一3,825(一24%)

一13,799(一88%)

Despite2%revenuegrowthperyearsince2018,video’s profitcontractedabout5%annually($15.6Bintotal);growingmodalitiestraillinearTV’shistoricaleconomics

一307(一2%)

一7,368(一47%)

8,363(53%)

一2,155(一14%)

1,925(12%)

1,523(10%)

Studioprofitfell24%aslicensingmarginsweakenedinnewstreamingeconomy

35,174

Streamingprofitsimprovedabout$8.4Bsince2018(roughlya$1Blosstoa$7.4Bprofit),thelargestswingwithinvideo

2018StudiosCableBroadcastTraditionalvMVPDsTheatersStreamingYouTube2025networksnetworksMVPDs

CAGR(%)2018-2025

一7

一8

一1

NM

+93

一14

NM

+29

一5

Sources:AmpereAnalysis;SNLKagan;Emarketer;company10-Ks;IMDb;MoffettNathanson;TheInformation.

Note:MVPD=multichannelvideoprogrammingdistributor;vMVPD=virtualmultichannelvideoprogrammingdistributor;NM=notmeaningful.Revenuesarethird-partyestimatesrepresentingthesumofestimatedrevenuesacrossallrelevantplayersineachvertical.EBITDAmarginsreflectrevenue-weightedaveragesofselectcompanieswithineachvertical,weightedbyeachcompany’sshareofrevenueamongtheselectedcompanies:theaters(AMCTheatresandCinemark);traditionalMVPD(XfinityandSpectrum);vMVPD(YouTube

TV,Hulu+LiveTV,SlingTV,Directv,andFuboTV);streaming(Netflix,Hulu,Disney+,HBOMax,Paramount+,PeacockTV,AppleTV,andRoku);socialmedia(YouTube);cable

networks(Disney,Comcast,WarnerBros.Discovery,Paramount,andFoxNetworks);broadcastnetworks(Comcast,Paramount,Disney,andFox);studios(DisneyStudios,UniversalPictures,WarnerBros.,ParamountPictures,20thCenturyStudios).Productionsoftwarenotincluded.CashfloworoperatingmarginusedasaproxyforEBITDAmarginwhere

EBITDAisnotdirectlyreportedormarginestimatedwherenotdisclosed.

AIisexpectedtocontinuetocollapseproductionbarriersandreducecosts,fuelingasurgeinnewcontentsupply

AIadoptionisalreadymainstream,cuttingcostsandproductionbarriers

~50%

CurrentlyusingAI

ContentproducersalreadyleveragingAIinproduction

~30%

Planningtoadopt

Additionalproducersplanningto

useAIgoingforward,pushingtotaladoptiontoward80%ormore

~10%

Currentcostsavings

Reductioninoverallcontent

productioncostsfromAI,afigurelikelytoriseasadoptiongrows

ContentsupplyisexpandingasnewAI-nativestudiosmultiply

NumberofAIstudiosfounded

28

23

5

202220232024

Notableplayers

•Asteria

•SecretLevel

•InvisibleUniverse

•PromiseAdvancedImagination

Sources:2025BCGContentCreatorSurvey(n=100);BCGanalysis.

Mediaconvergenceisexpectedtodeepen,associalmediabecomesTVandstreamingplatformsexpandintoothermodalities

Streamingpicksupsocialmediaandgaming’splaybook1

•LiveTV:WWERawPaul–TysonfightandNFLChristmasDaygames,allstreamingexclusivelyonNetflix

•Gaming:NetflixGamesandcloudgamingbuiltintoTVapps

•Physical:NetflixHouseinPhiladelphia,Dallas(late2025),andLasVegas(2027)

•Distribution:NBCUniversalandYouTubeannouncedpar