The European Media Industry Outlook 2025, published by the European Commission, highlights how Europe’s media landscape is undergoing profound transformation, shaped by shifting consumption patterns, rising global competition, and the growing impact of new technologies. While the EU audiovisual sector remains the world’s second largest, much of the growth in video-sharing and subscription platforms is dominated by non-European players, putting pressure on European broadcasters, cinemas, and content creators. At the same time, the video game and extended reality industries are expanding rapidly, though they remain highly fragmented and face intense competition from U.S. and Asian firms.
Consumer behaviour is changing fast, with younger generations moving away from traditional TV and print towards on-demand streaming, gaming, and social media. This shift has weakened revenues for legacy media, especially print, even as digital subscriptions and hybrid business models grow. The news media sector faces particular challenges: advertising is increasingly captured by large online platforms, leaving European outlets struggling with profitability and leading to the emergence of “news deserts” across member states.
AI and data-driven content creation are becoming mainstream, but adoption is uneven, and European firms often lag behind global rivals in investment and R&D. Skills shortages are acute across the industry, especially in AI, programming, and digital content production, exacerbated by competition from tech giants offering higher salaries. Yet Europe retains important assets: a diverse cultural heritage, strong public support mechanisms, and a vibrant ecosystem of startups and SMEs.
On balance, the report stresses that Europe’s media industry must scale up innovation, strengthen cross-border cooperation, and better exploit its intellectual property to remain competitive. At stake are not only economic growth and over one million jobs, but also the preservation of media pluralism, cultural diversity, and Europe’s ability to project its values in a globalised digital marketplace.