The media industry is undergoing significant structural realignment as companies reconsider whether their current assets position them competitively. According to Jon Miller, CEO of Integrated Media, this wave intensified around 2022 when AT&T divested WarnerMedia, prompting major players to ask fundamental questions about their viability. Companies are choosing between two paths: combining with businesses operating in similar content-distribution markets, or pursuing vertical integration that merges different capabilities and sectors to create new competitive advantages.

This consolidation pattern is global, with substantial M&A activity emerging from European and UK producers responding to the market dominance of major streamers. Miller notes that despite political and economic reservations about globalization, media markets are structurally trending toward larger integrated players as smaller operators face mounting pressure from entrenched competitors wielding enormous resources and audience reach.