If 2024 was the year AI arrived, then 2025 was the year the media industry reorganized itself around the consequences.
Across interviews with senior executives at 10 premium publishers, the same themes surfaced repeatedly: artificial intelligence restructured workflows and revenue models, search traffic declined, events surged, creators professionalized, and commerce media continued its expansion.
While each trend touched different companies in different ways, the picture they collectively paint is a sector actively reinventing its foundation.
1. AI redefined workflows, business models, and platform relationships
AI dominated the year, not only in terms of its utility but also in how profoundly it reshaped distribution, partnerships, and strategy.
