10% share of all TV viewership<\/a> in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cThe space available for intent-based ads is shrinking,\u201d said Sarah Harms,<\/strong> VP of Advertising Marketing and Measurement at Roku.<\/strong> \u201cCTV increasingly remains a frontier that\u2019s a direct relationship with a streamer and content they choose to watch, and in 2026, we\u2019ll see half of streaming advertisers divert search and social budgets to increase CTV spend.\u201d<\/p>\nDuring its recent quarterly report, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison<\/strong> noted the company will make $1.5 billion in investments in programming over the next year \u201cto expand our pipeline of premium films, television, sports, news and gaming content for global audiences.\u201d This is part of the company\u2019s strategy to build on the momentum of its Paramount+ streaming platform, he told analysts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s fun to be around people\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n\u201cBrands are struggling in a highly fragmented ecosystem where websites can be spun up in seconds with AI and attention exists everywhere but nowhere at the same time,\u201d said Jordan Bortolotti, president of independent media agency Salt Media. Intellectual property such as sports and music are strong draws at a time when \u201cthe post-COVID epiphany is that it\u2019s fun to be around people,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Live sports and music events \u201care where marketers tend to be spending more money today,\u201d said Rapino. \u201cWe see continued growth for a long time in sponsorship and brands that want to be part of that exciting two hours of magic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The LiveNation survey found 97% of consumers want brands to play a bigger role in live events and the survey noted more than 70% of brands see lifts in consideration, purchase intent and consumers reporting liking the brand more after sponsorship activations.<\/p>\n
Rising sponsorship costs are making it tougher for brands with smaller budgets, but brands are finding ways to integrate into those events\u2014on special stages, exclusive areas or other ways to enhance the fan experience, Bortolotti said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fan Fiction vs AI Slop\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\nEntertainment companies will be increasingly focused on connecting with the fandom before, during and after events. For example, Bortolotti noted how Salt had worked with the Canadian telecom Rogers to amplify its sponsorship of concert tours by offering users personalized post-event recaps that spliced their videos into the concert footage. Expect more such efforts, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t just about fandom. It\u2019s about certainty, especially in a world of AI where so much content now is not real,\u201d said Bortolotti. \u201cAs everything becomes skippable or synthetic, live sports and live experiences become the anchor for real attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
AI is also reshaping the fandom brands are counting on to maintain cultural relevance. Many brands expect to negotiate the use of synthetic content in entertainment in 2026, while at the same time protecting their IP.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The recent licensing deal between Walt Disney Co. and AI platform OpenAI is a sign of the traditional media\u2019s efforts to integrate those technologies, as the public increasingly adopts them. Indeed, Iger told analysts Disney sees \u201cphenomenal opportunities to deploy AI across our direct-to-consumer platforms\u201d while still protecting its IP.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once Disney\u2019s content \u2013 which includes fan-centric franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel\u2014is available on AI platforms, users may take fan fiction to new heights, said Bortolotti. Imagine Star Wars fan films turned into Hollywood-quality feature length movies merely by using generative AI prompts, he said. Brands will want to get into that segment, or Disney and OpenAI would not have made the deal, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t sleep on all the cool applications of AI coming this year,\u201d said Bortolotti. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to see some never-been-done-before stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Building \u201cBeyond Media\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn the midst of all this activity, a wave of consolidation will continue to reshape streaming, as seen in the public takeover war between Netflix and Paramount over Warner Bros. Discovery. The takeover fight over HBO\u2019s parent may be the marquee event of early 2026, but all entertainment companies are now anticipating a surge in mergers and consolidation as major players seek to strengthen their hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Versant, the spinoff including its NBCU broadcast and cable channels and the Peacock streaming platform, will complete its separation from Comcast in the new year and is going to integrate a number of acquisitions in a bid to lessen its dependence on traditional media.<\/p>\n
Versant CEO Mark Lazarus<\/strong> told the crowd at its Investor Day in December that the company has \u201ca mandate to build beyond cable, in fact, beyond media.\u201d It plans to grow the TV business while leveraging its content to expand into new channels such as live events and podcasts, and add streaming and digital channels.\u00a0<\/p>\nVersant expects to launch a new FAST channel in 2026, after it completes its acquisition of the Free TV platform and combines it with its previous acquisition of the Fandango movie website. It also will expand its reach into cinema advertising in 2026, after completing its acquisition of the operating platform Indy Cinema Group announced in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The FAST and the curious\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe streaming market is ripe for consolidation, as viewers try to rationalize their subscriptions, and continue to embrace FAST, especially among desirable younger demographics. After years of unbundling cable channels, viewers want simplicity in streaming, said Bortolotti. \u201cThe great rebundling is happening,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ad-supported content is now the majority of streaming and nearly all major streamers have ads, explained Harms. \u201cBy 2026, we expect essentially 100% of viewers to see ads in some form,\u201d due to the growth in FAST services, hybrid subscription-plus-ads tiers in major platforms and live sports in streaming, she noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNot long ago, the industry talked endlessly about \u2018unreachables\u2019 and \u2018ad-nevers,\u2019 insisting that streaming audiences would never tolerate advertising,\u201d said Harms. \u201cThat era flipped on its head.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Connected TV is bound to benefit from the decline of search advertising brought on by AI agents, said Harms. At the same time, AI is helping advertisers target and personalize streaming campaigns; advertisers will need to deliver more creative ads with better production values and more relevant personalization, she explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2026, the real homework for brands is not learning new tricks,\u201d she said, \u201cit\u2019s elevating their creative to meet the quality and clarity that CTV rewards.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source brand-innovators.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The entertainment industry faces a year of change and adjustment in 2026. New technologies and merger activity will keep movies, TV and live events in play.\u00a0 With the limitations of the COVID pandemic firmly in the rear-view mirror, the sector anticipates consumers will indulge in movies and live events, and brands will find new ways […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2209989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2209988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Brand-Innovators-Outlook-2026-Entertainment.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2209988"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2209990,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209988\/revisions\/2209990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2209989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2209988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2209988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2209988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}