A Focus on Consumer Attention & Experiences
By 2026, media and entertainment trends center on AI integration, such as production and personalization; the creator economy’s evolution (ownership, vertical video); hybrid monetization (SVOD/AVOD/FAST/commerce); a focus on authentic experiences; seamless platform convergence; and the growing importance of gaming and live sports within digital ecosystems.
Audiences are demanding simpler, personalized, and purpose-driven content, pushing studios to adapt with modular storytelling, community building, and immersive formats.
Key Media & Entertainment Trends for 2026
- AI as a Core Partner: AI moves from experimentation to an embedded tool for content creation, personalization, production efficiency, and even dynamically altering episode lengths or generating recaps.
- Creator Economy Ownership: Creators become powerful media entities, demanding IP and data ownership, while studios court them as talent and marketers, turning social platforms into development pipelines.
- Hybrid Monetization Models: The “subscription-only” era ends; platforms blend SVOD, AVOD, FAST, live events, and commerce (shoppertainment) for diverse revenue and to meet the connected viewer’s preferences.
- Authenticity & Purpose: Audiences demand genuine connection, driving demand for stories reflecting human values and purpose, making authenticity a premium asset.
- Experience Over Platform: Immersive formats (AR/VR), interactive films, and hybrid events make the “feeling” of entertainment crucial, shifting focus from where content lives to how it’s experienced.
- Short-Form Matures: Vertical video and short-form content evolve into primary storytelling formats, capable of building major franchises and emotional loyalty.
- Gaming & Live Sports Integration: Gaming solidifies its media status, while streaming’s expansion of live sports creates new fandoms and participatory digital cultures.
- The Creator Convergence: Blurring lines between Hollywood and creators as studios integrate creators into marketing and talent pipelines, treating social platforms as testing grounds.
- Simplified Access & Convergence: Consumers expect seamless experiences as streaming and linear TV converge, demanding simpler access across touchpoints.
- Will Theatrical Originals Rebound? After franchise dominance, original films aim to sustain momentum, challenging the blockbuster model.
More Resources on Media & Entertainment Trends
- EY explores how the industry enters 2026 balancing familiar pressures and new possibilities: “2026 M&E trends: simplicity, authenticity, and the rise of experiences.”
- This exclusive WrapPRO/NRG research report identifies the critical storylines for the year ahead, from AI to sports streaming to a pushback on franchise films: “2026 in the Frame: 6 Key Media and Entertainment Trends to Watch.”
- For Flux Media, 2026 will not be remembered as just another year of disruption. It will be remembered as the year the entertainment and media industry finally stopped chasing technology — and started redefining meaning: “The Big 5 Entertainment & Media Trends to Watch in 2026.”
- Dentsu has unveiled its 2026 Media Trends report, “Human Truths in the Algorithmic Era,” revealing how three enduring human behaviors; simplicity, sociability, and attention, will shape how brands grow in a world increasingly guided by algorithms: “Dentsu Unveils Key 2026 Media Trends: Human Truths in The Algorithmic Era.”
- From Boardroom, the channel looks at streaming consolidation and reality TV shakeups to awards contenders, creator pipelines, and the evolution of TikTok. Here’s what 2026 is most likely to bring: “10 Predictions That Will Shape Entertainment and Pop Culture in 2026.”
Redefining Entertainment & Beyond
In essence, 2026 is about connection, efficiency, and adaptation, with AI and creators powering hyper-personalized, experience-driven content that meets audiences where they are, blending commerce, culture, and storytelling.
In Bernard Marr’s piece for Forbes, “7 Media Trends That Will Redefine Entertainment In 2026,” he examines some of these trends a bit further. “Entertainment has always acted as a preview of what is coming next in business and society, from the first experiments with film and sound to the rise of AI-generated video. Today, the industry is once again revealing the next wave of change as studios, creators, and platforms explore powerful new tools that reshape how stories are made and how audiences engage with them,” observes Marr.
For Marr, he predicts that generative video, synthetic celebrities, immersive sports broadcasting, immersive virtual game worlds, content editing for the attention economy, intellectual property technology for the AI age, and small screen storytelling will all make waves in the new year as Hollywood further experiments with new tactics and technologies.
Whether human-centric ideas or AI-powered formats reign, or perhaps a balance of both, one thing is for sure: “Time will tell, but 2026 marks the moment the industry steps into an entirely new world,” says Marr.
Video: “A rare look at how Hollywood is already using AI,” courtesy of ABC News.
