Media players, trends, and how to crack the cases
Main streaming, TV, gaming, and advertising players by region, the consolidation of 2024 to 2026, regulation basics, and typical case prompts.
Industry brief, with a one-minute summary: Media and entertainmentFirm processes and online tests change from year to year and differ by office. Use this to prepare, and confirm the exact current steps on the firm's own careers page.
Key takeaways
- Media is consolidating: scale in content and in audience lowers the cost per viewer.
- Common traps in media cases: Comparing subscribers across companies that count them differently (bundles, free trials, telecom partner subscriptions).
- Streaming turned toward profit and advertising.
- Consolidation. Paramount and Skydance combined in 2025, then Paramount agreed in February 2026 to buy Warner Bros.
- Gaming kept growing. Newzoo expected the global games market to reach about USD 197 billion in 2025, with mobile about USD 108 billion.
Key idea
Media is consolidating: scale in content and in audience lowers the cost per viewer. In a media case, ask whether the client has enough scale to pay for the content its audience expects.
| Region | Examples | Sourced facts |
|---|---|---|
| Global streaming | Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV | Netflix reported revenue of about USD 45 billion in 2025 and ad revenue above USD 1.5 billion, expected to roughly double in 2026 |
| US studios and TV | Disney, Comcast (NBCUniversal), Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery | Paramount agreed in February 2026 to buy Warner Bros. Discovery and said in August 2026 it had regulatory clearances in nearly 70 countries; closing was held up by a lawsuit from 12 US states, which Paramount settled in September 2026. The deal had not closed by the end of September 2026 |
| India | JioStar (JioHotstar), Sony, Zee, Netflix, Amazon | JioStar was formed in November 2024 by combining Viacom18 and Star India, and launched JioHotstar in 2025 |
| Africa | MultiChoice (DStv, Showmax), Canal+, Netflix | Canal+ completed its takeover of MultiChoice in September 2025 |
| Gaming | Tencent, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, NetEase | EA was taken private by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners in August 2026, at an enterprise value of about USD 55 billion |
So-what
The largest deals of 2024 to 2026 were about buying scale in content, rights, and audiences.
Trends from 2024 to 2026 (checked September 2026)
- Streaming turned toward profit and advertising. Netflix stopped reporting quarterly subscriber numbers from 2025, focusing on revenue and engagement, and grew ad revenue more than two and a half times in 2025. Cheaper plans with ads, password-sharing rules, and price rises lifted revenue per member across the industry.
- Consolidation. Paramount and Skydance combined in 2025, then Paramount agreed in February 2026 to buy Warner Bros. Discovery (not yet closed at the end of September 2026). In India, Viacom18 and Star India merged into JioStar. In Africa, Canal+ took over MultiChoice. Check the latest status of any deal before using it in an interview.
- Gaming kept growing. Newzoo expected the global games market to reach about USD 197 billion in 2025, with mobile about USD 108 billion. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund led the take-private of EA, closed in August 2026.
- Advertising kept growing, led by digital platforms. WPP Media's June 2026 forecast expects global advertising revenue (excluding US political advertising) to grow about 8.9 percent in 2026 to about USD 1.3 trillion.
Broadcasters need licences and follow content and advertising rules. Many countries classify films and games by age. The EU requires streaming services to offer a share of European works, and some countries require local content investment. Sports rights sales are sometimes reviewed by competition authorities. Privacy laws such as the EU GDPR limit how user data can be used for targeted ads. Some countries restrict paid random rewards in games (loot boxes). India has specific rules for online streaming content. Large media mergers need competition approval in many countries, which can take more than a year.
| Prompt | Case type | Structure hint | First driver to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| A streaming service in Southeast Asia is losing money | Profitability | Subscribers x ARPU against content, marketing, and fees | Churn and content cost per subscriber compared with rivals |
| Should we launch a cheaper plan with ads? | Pricing | New subscribers, downgrades, ad revenue per viewer | Share of current subscribers likely to move down |
| Should a broadcaster bid for cricket or football rights? | Investment and capital project decisions | Rights cost against subscriptions, ads, and churn saved | Extra revenue per year against the yearly rights fee |
| Should a studio merge with a rival? | Mergers, acquisitions, and due diligence | Content library, audience overlap, cost synergies, debt | Realistic cost synergies and the debt the deal adds |
| How do we grow a free mobile game's revenue? | Revenue growth and growth strategy | Players, payer conversion, ARPPU, retention | Day 30 retention of new players |
So-what
Media cases hinge on how many people pay or watch, for how long, and what the content costs per person.
See the Unit economics and subscription businesses case-type module for churn and lifetime value, Pricing for plan design, and Mergers, acquisitions, and due diligence for media deals. Advertising markets are a common Guesstimates and market sizing topic.
Comparing subscribers across companies that count them differently (bundles, free trials, telecom partner subscriptions). Treating content spend as a one-year cost. Ignoring churn after a sports season or a hit series ends. Assuming every ad slot is sold at the full CPM. Forgetting that app stores and platforms take a fee on in-app purchases.
A streamer shows an operating profit, but its cash keeps falling. What is the most likely reason?
What does a CPM of USD 10 mean?
Why do media companies merge?
Sources for this lesson (9)
- Netflix Q4 2025 shareholder letter (Form 8-K exhibit)
- Variety: Netflix to stop reporting subscriber numbers from 2025 (April 2024)
- Paramount: regulatory conditions satisfied for the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition (August 2026)
- Washington Post: Paramount settles with states over the Warner Bros. Discovery merger (September 2026)
- JioStar: JioHotstar launch announcement
- Wccftech reporting Newzoo: global games market expected at USD 197 billion in 2025
- Electronic Arts: completion of acquisition by PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners (August 2026)
- WPP Media: This Year Next Year 2026 midyear forecast (June 2026)
- CNBC Africa: Canal+ completes MultiChoice acquisition (September 2025)
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