We are witnessing the rapid and irreversible shift of consumer attention toward global streaming platforms, digital-first content, and interactive environments like gaming and social media. Traditional broadcast and cable networks are facing acute challenges in sustaining viewership and monetization, with forecasts suggesting a 12–14% year-over-year decline in linear television audiences -- even in an Olympic year. This erosion is not cyclical; it’s systemic.
At the core of this profound structural transformation is a fundamental imbalance in scale, data, and technology. Google, Meta, Amazon, and now a growing ecosystem of generative AI startups have built advertising and content businesses on the backbone of personalized data, precision targeting, and frictionless global distribution. In contrast, legacy media remains tethered to outdated infrastructures, regulatory entitlements, geographic limitations, and a generationally aging user base.
What becomes clear is that we are no longer in a "media market" but rather in an "attention economy,">The era of passive media consumption is over. The question is not whether legacy media can survive, but how capital can be deployed to back the players -- new or reinvented - who are best positioned to shape what comes next.