2025: The Year in Review

Like 2024, 2025 was another year of transformation. With economic woes and the continued challenge of capturing viewers’ attention amongst a very crowded landscape, there was a lot of movement this year. From mergers and acquisitions to increased AI investments and new streaming bundles, companies were constantly innovating to figure out the best way to survive and thrive.

The plans for the future of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) dominated the news cycle for the last few months of 2025. Earlier in the year, WBD confirmed it planned to separate into two publicly traded companies, one housing streaming and studios operations and the other focused on global networks. In October, WBD announced that, as it continued to advance the separation of Warner Bros. and Discovery Global, its board of directors had begun a review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value, including a transaction for the entire company. Paramount Skydance, Netflix and Comcast put in bids, but it was Netflix that won out. Paramount Skydance launched a hostile takeover bid, sending a letter to WBD shareholders directly, claiming its offer was better than Netflix’s. The WBD board told its shareholders to reject the Paramount offer. This has continued up to now, with Paramount Skydance most recently revising its offer on December 22 and the WBD board sending another letter to its shareholders asserting that the Netflix offer remains superior.

Though the WBD acquisition dominated headlines in recent months, it wasn’t the only major acquisition of the year. Skydance acquired Paramount Global earlier in the year for $8 billion, with the merger officially closing in August. In the U.S., Charter Communications reached a deal to acquire Cox Communications for $34.5 billion. The Berlusconi family’s MFE took a 75.61 percent stake in ProSiebenSat.1 Media in September. RTL Group clinched a deal with Comcast to take over Sky Deutschland for €150 million in cash. Also, Blue Ant Media went public via a reverse takeover of Boat Rocker Media, while Boat Rocker Studios completed a management buyout. Blue Ant Media later also acquired Thunderbird Entertainment for C$89 million. And in November, it was confirmed that ITV was in preliminary discussions with Sky about the possible sale of its media and entertainment business for £1.6 billion.

Also this year, Lions Gate Entertainment completed the full separation of its studio and STARZ businesses. Near the end of the year, Comcast Corporation’s board of directors officially approved the previously announced separation of Versant Media Group, which will house most of Comcast’s cable TV networks and several digital businesses. Plus, FilmRise and Shout! Studios merged to create Radial Entertainment.

Companies also explored other deal structures, including minority stakes and content-sharing alliances. The Walt Disney Company took a 2 percent stake in WEBTOON Entertainment, Warner Bros. Discovery picked up a minority stake in OSN Group’s streaming business in the Middle East and CANAL+ entered negotiations to acquire a minority stake in French cinema chain UGC, among others.

Content-sharing alliances took many forms, with bundling becoming increasingly important. A study released by Horowitz in July revealed that 66 percent of consumers in the U.S. would switch to a bundle that delivers streaming platforms alongside other subscription services, music and fitness. In the study, 56 percent of consumers said they wanted a centralized place to manage all of their subscriptions, and 41 percent indicated that keeping track of subscriptions was a challenge. Companies have taken note and begun to offer more deals around the world.

Disney+ partnered with Shahid and OSN+ to offer a single subscription bundle in the GCC region. Bell Media and Disney Entertainment signed a deal to offer a Disney+, Crave and TSN bundle for Canadian consumers. MBC teamed up with Netflix to provide a bundle combining Netflix, Shahid and various linear channels. HBO Max and Viu aligned for a single streaming subscription in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Fox Corporation and ESPN entered a pact to offer a bundled subscription delivering FOX One and ESPN’s DTC service to U.S. consumers. STARZ and Hallmark+ partnered for a bundle on Prime Video in the U.S. Cignal in the Philippines introduced a massive bundle package that includes Viu, Hallmark+, Curiosity Stream, Fuse+, Max, Lionsgate Play, Pilipinas Live and Cignal Play.

As companies continue to look for ways to optimize their strategies, more and more began exploring the use of AI. Disney invested $1 billion in OpenAI, which also scored a pact with Mattel earlier in the year. BBC Studios Productions opened an AI creative lab, tapping Walt Disney Studios alum Alice Taylor as its head. Fremantle launched the AI-driven label Imaginae Studios in April and later appointed an AI chief to oversee the company’s overall AI strategy. There were also plenty of new AI-driven companies that entered the landscape. Wonder Studios, led by co-founder and CEO Xavier Collins, raised $3 million in pre-seed funding. Colin Petrie-Norris, who previously built Xumo TV, launched Fairground Entertainment, an AI-generated content studio and streaming distribution service that raised a $4 million seed round. An AVOD and FAST platform built entirely by AI—Chillfree TV—debuted this year as well.

Other companies continued to craft their digital strategies to keep up with consumers’ habits. Lionsgate named an executive VP of digital strategy and growth, while Fremantle UK appointed a head of digital and branded content. Hearst Networks launched a new business unit to develop content brands across digital platforms. Sky ordered a series of digital shorts, and Tubi expanded its digital-first slate as well. ITV Studios alum James Dolan opened the new venture Beam Digital to offer full support for rights owners and content creators as they craft their own digital strategies.

Ad-supported television—especially FAST channels—continued to be a boon for companies, and as such, there were many new ad solutions introduced throughout the year. Fuse Media launched its own advertising solutions platform, AMPLITUDE, offering ad options on 30-plus CTV channels and more tools. ProSiebenSat.1 partnered with Comcast-owned FreeWheel to deliver new advertising solutions across Europe. Sky, Channel 4 and ITV, in collaboration with Comcast Advertising, launched an ad marketplace delivering access to an on-demand and streaming inventory of premium content. Warner Bros. Discovery introduced WBD Storyverse, an initiative that allows ad partners to leverage characters from the company’s slate of films and TV shows. FOX Advertising launched the OneFOX converged media platform, built on a foundation of AI-driven tools and powered by AdRise, delivering audience and contextual signals alongside behavioral, creative and campaign analytics.

Last year also saw lots of C-suite changes unrelated to mergers and acquisitions. There were quite a few new studios launched. And there were several new MOUs signed to encourage international co-production opportunities. To catch up on all of last year’s news and stay up-to-date on the industry’s biggest stories, visit WorldScreen.com and subscribe to World Screen Newsflash and World Screen Weekly for free here.