The great thing about predictions is that they are never wrong, which is why ADWEEK gathered responses from more than 20 media executives to hear what they think the new year holds for the industry.
Naturally, artificial intelligence dominated the conversation, but media operators are of a mixed mind as to how the technology will actually come into play next year.
Other key themes—including fragmentation, trust, and traffic—have made appearances in past lists, and they will probably be among the predictions for 2026 as well. So much of the business simply swings back and forth between two poles—bundling and unbundling—that retrospection can take on the appearance of foresight.
Either way, here are the lightly condensed and edited predictions for the media industry in 2025.
Generative AI becomes more integrated into publisher operations …
In 2025, GenAI and AI generally are slated to play a far more important role in publisher operations—from advertising to copy creation to improving recommendation engines.
“If 2024 was the year of testing new GenAI technologies in the ad buying/selling process, 2025 will be the year of deploying the tech in a tangible way and launching new products and features that add real value,” said Wall Street Journal chief revenue officer Josh Stinchcomb.
Sherry Phillips, the newly appointed chief executive of Forbes, agrees.
“Media companies that embrace AI in use, safeguard user data, and foster authentic engagement will build deeper, more loyal connections with their audiences,” she said.
At the Daily Beast, which has seen its subscriber count balloon under new leadership, AI is poised to play an even more prominent role in its business next year, according to chief revenue officer Keith Bonicci.
“The continued proliferation of AI tools for publishers to leverage, including tools that help drive subscriber growth via AI-aided pay walling, as well as tools that help create efficiencies in journalist workflows,” Bonicci said. “2025 will be the year the noise clears up a bit and publishers move from the analysis stage of these AI tools and to more widespread adoption and use of them.”
… but operators become less transparent about its use
Publishers have found themselves in somewhat of a bind when it comes to using AI.
Consumer sentiment toward the technology is still unenthusiastic, making its overt use a risk, while using it covertly risks an even bigger backlash—but only if they’re caught.
As a result, some media executives agree that AI use will rise in 2025, but not in a transparent way.
“We’re already seeing more media companies use GenAI to create content without explicit disclosure—you know who you are,” said BuzzFeed publisher Jess Probus. “This will happen more rapidly over the next year as the tech gets better and cheaper, and most media companies will stop even acknowledging that AI is part of the service or output.”
