Tracking 2025’s media M&As and where streaming is going in 2026

Dealmaking is commonplace in the media, but one category dominated headlines this year: mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in streaming.

After a period of stagnation, the industry braced for a “bumper year’” of M&A deals — and that surge has arrived. Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. studios and streaming units has provoked rival suitor Paramount to offer a hostile $108.4 billion bid for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery.

But some major players have already struck bold deals this year, from Disney’s full takeover of Hulu to DAZN’s acquisition of Foxtel, while Pinterest signaled its entry into connected TV (CTV) advertising with its planned purchase of tvScientific.

“It’s clear from the pace and tenor of announcements that 2025 has been more aggressive than the last two years combined,” said James Ramelli, partner at ad agency Fyllo.

M&A activity started cautiously in the first quarter, but later gained momentum as interest rates stabilized and “pressure to scale audience reach intensified,” said Jonathan Gudai, CEO at U.S. ad agency Adomni.

This year has been a year of “fewer moves, but bigger swings,” according to Paul Silver, global president of corporate development at ad agency MiQ.

“Capital is expensive, so no one’s doing vanity acquisitions anymore. Deals get done when the asset clearly shifts scale, rights or the underlying economics of their streaming and advertising businesses.”

The outcome for advertisers? “A landscape where premium inventory becomes more centralized, CPMs harden and the biggest consolidated players gain more leverage in upfronts and long-term partnerships,” Justin Hayashi, CEO of ad agency New Engen, told The Current.

Behind the trend

There were many noteworthy M&A deals this year, underscoring the broader consolidation trend:

In January, Disney paid Comcast’s NBCUniversal nearly $439 million for its stake in Hulu, taking full control of the streaming service.
In March, Warner Bros. Discovery paid $57 million for a minority stake in the UAE’s OSN Streaming Ltd.
In April, News Corp and Telstra sold Foxtel in a $3.4 billion deal to global sports streaming giant DAZN.
In September, French media company Canal+ completed its acquisition of South Africa’s MultiChoice.
In December, Pinterest agreed to acquire tvScientific, a CTV ad buying platform — a move that highlights how social platforms are joining the race to strengthen CTV advertising capabilities.

In fact, media analysis firm Omdia reported a 50% increase in ad-related M&A deals in H1 2025 compared with H1 2024, said Omdia senior principal analyst Matthew Bailey.

The Canal-MultiChoice and DAZN-Foxtel moves are especially telling, said Adomni’s Gudai: “They point to a future where sports and local-language content are viewed as strategic levers for global growth.”

Streaming economics, consolidation pressure and desire for future growth have all shaped M&A activity this year, according to Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis.

“While password-sharing restrictions and cheaper ad tiers created a new ceiling for subscribers, the impact of these new efforts have slowed, meaning companies are looking elsewhere to secure their place in audiences’ households.”

Walsh stressed that one way of doing this is by absorbing competition — such as a potential merger of Warner Bros. Discovery and another leading studio or streamer — and with “secure additional, premium content to retain subscribers.”

MiQ’s Silver noted that beneath all of this sits a deeper need: “better first-party data, identity and proper addressable infrastructure,” which underpin monetization in CTV and streaming.

Sports rights are another element at play, explained Ampere’s Walsh. “[They] are another extremely important factor when it comes to both subscriber acquisition and subscriber retention. Deals such as DAZN-Foxtel secures high-value sports rights … for DAZN, in a market that is sports-obsessed.”

Why it matters

For advertisers, these moves have real implications. When major sellers merge, their ability to set terms “naturally strengthens,” New Engen’s Hayashi explained.

“With fewer players controlling more premium inventory, CPMs tend to firm up and upfront negotiations shift toward the seller’s favor,” Hayashi said. “Media buyers will still have choice, but it becomes harder to play sellers against each other for price concessions or access.”

This can present long-term commercial challenges for buyers, agreed James McCann, director of advanced TV at Ebiquity. “[The deals] fundamentally reshape the streaming TV supply chain at a critical moment when the streaming players are trying to move from growth phase to profitability focus.”

But there’s still plenty for advertisers to celebrate as the M&A cycle gains momentum. Ampere’s Walsh noted that large mergers in high-value ad spaces, such as sports, will create “large pools of premium advertising” across CTV and streaming, with potential to reshape inventory sales models.

Mergers like Disney-Hulu could also improve advertising capabilities through enhanced subscriber data, she highlighted. “[The capabilities] will include enhanced household viewing behaviors, cross-device targeting and unified frequency control.”

Looking ahead to 2026

Speculation is mounting around potential upcoming mergers, particularly as Netflix and Paramount battle it out for WBD, while Comcast’s Sky has already made a bid for Britain’s ITV.

“U.S. operators are hungry for international growth, and ITV could offer the type of premium-but-scalable content Comcast lacks,” Fyllo’s Ramelli said.

Heading into 2026, buyers should expect the early stages of a “power shift,” added Ebiquity’s McCann. Streaming inventory prices have fallen amid an influx of new suppliers, he said. But that period may be ending if prices stabilize or rise.

MiQ’s Silver said this part of the cycle feels less about empire-building and more about getting the infrastructure right: “Everyone’s tidying the chessboard before the next expansion phase.”