Industry leaders including Jimmy Pitaro, Chris Winfrey, Anjali Sud, and Jeff Zucker weigh in on what the television market will look like three years from now.

These executives discuss government regulation, sports ratings, and the leading streaming platforms. The prevailing wisdom about traditional linear media underpins hundreds of billions of dollars in merger and acquisition activity.

The television industry is undergoing a period of intense transformation. Deals, spin-offs, and strategic partnerships are redrawing the traditional TV map. While this sector has never been short on drama, the recent acceleration of change keeps media investors and observers on edge.

In this context, we present our "Future of Television" survey, which began in 2023. This update again asks top executives to project where the industry is headed over the next three years.

Depending on your perspective, television may appear to be in crisis. Cable TV subscriptions have declined for over a decade. Streaming platforms are now profitable, but user growth for most has plateaued. Thinking about TV's future is not an academic exercise; it is the core logic driving hundreds of billions in M&A.

In February, Paramount-Skydance agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery; earlier in the sales process, Netflix nearly bought Warner Bros. Discovery's film studio and HBO Max. That deal is now stalled due to political antitrust concerns. In June, Fox announced a $22 billion acquisition of streaming platform Roku. Comcast plans to spin off NBCUniversal by 2027, having already separated its cable network assets into Versant. Charter Communications recently received final regulatory approval for its $34.5 billion purchase of Cox Communications, creating the largest cable operator in the U.S.

As the cable ecosystem shrinks, media companies are also forging partnerships to open new revenue streams. NBCUniversal's Peacock has partnered with YouTube. Walt Disney has a new CEO focused on integrating its vast media assets, including ESPN, ABC, FX, Disney+, and Hulu.

Netflix, the company that disrupted pay TV over a decade ago with its binge-watching model, account sharing, and ad-free experience, has reversed several of those policies to appease investors, yet its stock is still down over 35% in the past year. Meanwhile, YouTube keeps capturing viewing time, and other media firms are racing to adapt to younger audiences' content habits.

These major events are rewriting the strategy of every player in the ecosystem. To understand where television is headed, we posed the same five questions to ten media executives. Looking back at the 2023 survey, many predictions proved accurate: most executives said linear pay TV would not disappear entirely, just keep losing subscribers; several pointed to the difficulty of streaming bundles; and more than one predicted Paramount+ and HBO Max would eventually merge.

Here is the industry's view of the television landscape in 2029.

Will cable subscriptions hit a bottom in three years?

Chris Winfrey (Chairman and CEO of Charter Communications) believes subscriptions will still decline significantly. "Retransmission fees for free over-the-air broadcast now cost over $30 per subscriber, yet that content is fundamentally free to watch," he notes. "But now, broadcast and cable content are all available in apps. In the future, there will be large streaming bundles, and I believe Netflix will join. Think about it: Netflix is essentially a major TV content producer that can be packaged with other streamers, offering users more choice, higher value, and a better experience."

Jeff Zucker (CEO of RedBird IMI, former NBCUniversal CEO and Chairman of WarnerMedia News & Sports) does not see a bottom. "Subscribers will keep eroding. It will likely decline every year until sports rights fully leave cable, but that is at least a decade away."

Charlie Collier (President of Roku Media) points out that "nothing truly goes to zero. Somewhere in America, someone is still on AOL dial-up or renting a DVD from the last Blockbuster—by the way, that's in Bend, Oregon. But the big trend is unmistakable."

Rashida Jones (CEO of Uncensored, former MSNBC President) says, "The consumer shift away from linear TV to other platforms is hard to reverse and will continue. But the pace is uncertain. Honestly, our industry's past predictions have been off. The actual change has not been as rapid as everyone imagined four or five years ago."

What doesn't exist today that will become standard in three years?

Jimmy Pitaro (ESPN Chairman) predicts "ubiquitous personalization. It exists now, but in three years it will be everywhere: platforms delivering the right content to the right user at the right time; not just recommendations based on preferences, but content produced directly according to user tastes."

Anjali Sud (CEO of Tubi) sees TV advertising becoming "highly practical and relevant, reaching the level of social media ads. Most TV ads today are not personalized. In the future, they will be deeply tailored, so ads are no longer an interruption but something you find useful, making you feel the platform truly knows you."

Pitaro adds that "deep e-commerce integration will scale massively. Our new ESPN app already has built-in purchase entry points. The future is frictionless commerce: more shoppable content, with users able to deep-link directly to partner sites to complete a purchase."

John Landgraf (Chairman of FX Content and Studios) highlights "global simultaneous release as a major evolution. Some shows will still premiere in one region first—North America, Asia, or Europe—but top-tier series will increasingly launch worldwide at the same time."

Zucker predicts "podcasts and live programs being widely licensed to cable and even broadcast radio will become the norm."

Jeffrey Hirsch (President and CEO of Starz) points to "huge advances in language translation technology, enabling borderless content. AI will let platforms deliver content in the user's native language, making subtitles and dubbing obsolete. Users will switch between French, Spanish, and English with one click. In three years, 'borderless content' becomes the industry standard." (Note: this was also his answer three years ago.)

Winfrey sees "immersive content, especially 8K sports, becoming a new product that revitalizes pay TV. Our Spectrum Front Row project, with the NBA and Apple Vision Pro, gives a glimpse of the future. Bringing courtside viewing experiences into living rooms creates a whole new, unique experience."

Will government regulation block big tech's entertainment expansion?

Zucker says, "It's no secret that big tech's favorability has dropped sharply among left-leaning and Democratic groups in the U.S. They will face heavy scrutiny, and expansion will get harder. But the outcome ultimately depends on the 2026 and 2028 elections."

Jones argues, "The market won't keep chasing ever-larger companies. Mergers will face pushback from consumers and the industry, changing the trajectory. We already see signs of this, like the recent open letter from over a thousand Hollywood professionals opposing Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery."

Sud believes "Silicon Valley and Hollywood have already merged; the trend is set. The platforms capturing the most user time are tech platforms; YouTube is the number one in living room viewing. The convergence, even collision, will intensify: Instagram is already playing vertical short-form video on TV; the Oscars stream on YouTube; creators' work hits theaters. Consumers are used to tech-entertainment fusion, and there's no reversing it."

Is there a bubble in sports ratings?

Pitaro is definitive: "No bubble. Measurement systems are constantly improving, now including out-of-home and streaming viewership. Every time the industry predicts ratings will fall, the actual numbers keep rising."

Jones cautions, "Markets always reach saturation. Sports have an audience ceiling. With more distribution platforms, there's a limit, and after hitting a peak, ratings will start to decline."

Brian Fuhrer (Senior Vice President of Product Strategy and Thought Leadership at Nielsen) says, "Nielsen's methodology improvements have a big impact on sports, especially expanding out-of-home measurement. Home market viewing is critical for sports ratings. Some of the increase comes from better measurement, and that will continue, but we won't see huge annual jumps."

Winfrey predicts, "Sports ratings will keep climbing. Combining short and long-form video with immersive tech pulls viewers into the stadium. Live sports can't be replaced by replays, and that will keep driving viewership."

Zucker adds, "Live content has enormous vitality. People need live news and especially love live sports; AI can't replicate that. Sports will stay strong. Ratings fluctuate with matchups and tournaments, but overall demand remains extremely robust."

Collier says, "Live sports are one of the few mass-audience events in the modern era. In a fragmented media world, sports create collective shared experiences: families watching together, friends messaging in real time, a city's mood rising and falling with the game's outcome. Premium sports rights will only grow in value, becoming even more precious than today."

Beyond the major streamers, which platforms will gain significant share in three years?

Dana Walden (Chairman of Disney Television Entertainment) points to "Instagram's recent TV format. It may not be a platform we've never heard of; more likely, existing platforms will keep upgrading their interfaces and expanding user experiences."

Winfrey sees "the real opportunity for aggregators that package everything, recreating cable's original model: bundling multiple services at a discount, delivering real utility. New entrants have a chance to capture this space."

Zucker predicts, "TikTok videos will keep getting longer, and that trend won't stop. Niche vertical content will also rise, with many small communities playing important roles across platforms."

Fuhrer highlights "FAST (free ad-supported streaming) platforms like The Roku Channel, Tubi, and Pluto TV, which are seeing rapid growth in users and viewing time with no signs of slowing. As platforms iterate and invest in original content, the FAST category deserves close attention."

Pitaro is bullish on "Epic Games. Walt Disney has already invested $1.5 billion. Combining gaming experiences with entertainment and sports content—even live events—has enormous potential."

Landgraf doubts "a completely unfamiliar new streamer will emerge and seriously compete in long-form video."

Hirsch's answer is simply "Starz."