This story was initially printed in On Background with Mark Stenberg, a free, weekly e-newsletter that explores the important thing themes shaping the media business. You’ll be able to join it right here.
The media business spent a lot of 2025 reacting: to AI-driven site visitors volatility, to shifting advertiser expectations, and to the collapse of acquainted playbooks.
Waiting for 2026, a dozen media executives instructed ADWEEK they anticipate a yr outlined much less by experimentation and extra by sorting: what scales, what doesn’t, and what audiences and entrepreneurs will truly reward in an AI-saturated surroundings.
Throughout the business, the predictions converge round a number of core concepts.

