Global Scans · Media & Entertainment · Weekly Summary

• [New] Meta expects to spend upwards of $70bn on AI, even though its main source of revenue is still in social media advertising. The Observer
• [New] The proliferation of highly sophisticated AI-generated material during major breaking news stories is only growing - and has the potential to hamper the media and public's understanding of world events. Eurovision News Spotlight | Fact-Checking & OSINT Netwo
• [New] The Australian legislation banning social media for under-16s (passed late 2024) will act as a blueprint for European policymakers in 2026. GamesIndustry.biz
• [New] The EU's Digital Services Act plans to coerce social media giants into suppressing content that challenges Brussels' orthodoxies, leading to a chilling effect on open discourse throughout the world. Clintel
• [New] In 2026, AI-powered media monitoring and analysis will reach new levels of sophistication, enabling real-time sentiment tracking, predictive crisis detection, and automated competitive intelligence. AMW
• [New] The most successful media companies in 2026 will view engagement, not traffic, as their central performance metric. Nieman Lab
• [New] In 2026, social media will no longer be an advertising channel for website traffic, but rather the place where the entire customer journey takes place. Lookfamed English
• [New] In 2026, analysts expect rapid growth in AI-generated video, audio and 3D content, transforming marketing, entertainment and digital media. Businessday NG
• [New] Social commerce dominates shopping: By 2026, over 17% of online sales will occur through social platforms, with livestream shopping reaching $50 B in the US as consumers blur the lines between entertainment and purchasing. Netguru
• [New] In 2026, we will start to see media buying diversify beyond programmatic and direct sold paths. TV Tech
• [New] In 2026, the media landscape will be increasingly defined by the convergence of AI-mediated consumption, companion AI, AI memory, immersive experiences, gamification, and AI-enabled co-creation, fundamentally reshaping audience expectations and disrupting traditional media hierarchies. Prolific North
• [New] The Rise of AI-Generated Video A quiet shift has been unfolding in the entertainment world, and 2026 will be the year it becomes prevalent. Daffodil Unthinkable Software Corp
• [New] Multi-Modal AI and Hyper-Realistic Synthetic Media If 2023 belonged to text and image models, then 2026 will belong to something far more sophisticated: AI that can see, hear, read, and reason all at once. Daffodil Unthinkable Software Corp
• [New] Agentic advertising will face false starts as creative production becomes the first true breakthrough: As we look to 2026, the digital media economy will enter a formative yet unsettled phase for AI-driven innovation. Streaming Media Magazine
• [New] A boom in niche sports: As the rights to top-tier leagues grow too costly for all but the biggest media players, 2026 will see increased investment in mid-tier and niche sports with passionate followings. Streaming Media Magazine
• [New] Marketing in 2026 will hinge on connection: between AI and data accuracy, commerce media and category expansion, and curation and programmatic efficiency. Marketing Forward Blog
• [New] In terms of media, total advertising spend is estimated to grow 8.3% in 2025, with an additional 9.9% increase anticipated in 2026. Marketing-Interactive
• By 2026, AI will move from supporting media workflows to actively orchestrating them. Digiday
• In 2026, digital ads will be led by retail media. Marketplace
• Retail media is expected to grow to $190 billion in 2026. Marketplace
• U.S. advertisers will shell out $69.33 billion on retail media. Digiday
• In the U.S., social commerce is on track to exceed $100 billion in annual sales by the mid-2020s, fueled heavily by TikTok Shop, Instagram Shopping, Facebook / Meta platforms and retail media tie-ups. The AI Innovator
• The Prediction: In 2026, the collapse of big social and mass youth abandonment of mainstream platforms will force journalism and philanthropy to rebuild civic information systems around something social media no longer provides: trust, safety, and community control. Ben Werdmuller

Last updated: 05 January 2026