AI and dying Ad budgets threaten European media in 2026

Television networks and publishing houses across Europe are staring down a rough 2026. New technology is changing everything, and advertising money is drying up.

The numbers don’t look good. Media and entertainment companies are expected to grow earnings by 6.9% next year. The broader market? Projected to hit 10% growth.

Tom Ward at Bloomberg Intelligence says advertising problems and artificial intelligence uncertainty aren’t going anywhere. Stock prices in the sector already took a beating in 2025.

Trade disputes and political mess have made European businesses nervous. Advertising budgets get cut first when companies worry about the future. Media firms that depend on ad revenue are feeling the squeeze.

There’s a direct link between ad spending and economic confidence, Ward says. When things look bad, businesses pull back on campaigns.

The damage is real. In October, advertising giant WPP Plc slashed its outlook. It has seen a 60% drop this year, as reported by Cryptopolitan previously. Clients were leaving, and demand evaporated. A month later, British broadcaster ITV Plc said anxiety over the UK budget crushed advertising demand. The company needs to find £35 million ($47 million) in savings to offset lost revenue.

TV networks saw ad sales drop by mid-single-digit percentages on average last year, according to Ward’s calculations. When will it turn around? Nobody knows.

Advertising troubles are just part of the story

Artificial intelligence has become another big worry. Silvia Cuneo from Deutsche Bank AG says AI emerged as a new threat right when trade issues seemed to be settling down.

Companies like Informa Plc and online platforms Rightmove Plc and Scout24 SE are caught in the middle. AI could make their tools more efficient and create new revenue. But it could also replace their main products and wipe out entire parts of their business.

Some areas face more risk. John Davies at Bloomberg Intelligence points to Pearson Plc’s digital college courses as particularly vulnerable. Academic publishers like Springer Nature AG & Co KGaA have another problem. Cuts to US research funding hurt them because they make significant money from academic journals.

Not everyone thinks AI is such a big threat. Daniel Kerven and Lara Simpson at JPMorgan Chase & Co. say the fears are overblown. They expect a “more nuanced” market response this year.

Companies that don’t adapt will struggle

The situation is still changing, Cuneo notes. It could take years to understand AI’s real impact across different sectors. Companies that started early will win. The ones treating AI as both opportunity and risk.

Scout24, a German property website, is doing it right. The company built AI tools for real estate agents to create listings and improve photos. These features let Scout24 charge more for business services, says Doyinsola Sanyaolu at Citigroup Inc. The company’s data also creates partnership possibilities with AI language model providers. Sanyaolu calls Scout24 “among the most innovative” in the space.

Investor confidence will probably stay low this year while everyone watches how AI plays out for these companies. Economic conditions remain weak, Cuneo says, and AI disruption keeps dominating the conversation.