Authors
Audit Partner & Global Head of Media
The first half of 2025 has been a defining period for global media and tech, marked by a shift from speed to precision in media M&A activity.
While deal volumes remain strong, timelines are lengthening and extended due diligence is becoming standard. Private equity is driving innovation, particularly in AI, social commerce and buy-and-build strategies, while digital consumption continues to reshape the media landscape.
From YouTube overtaking traditional broadcasters to the rise of hybrid events and AI-driven insights, the first six months of 2025 highlight the importance of strategic focus and well-timed investment.
Here, we provide a strategic review of global media M&A activity across H1 and provide insight into how technology and media trends are shaping the landscape.
In a market defined by measured moves, knowing which opportunities truly matter is the difference between making headlines and building lasting value.
Global media M&A in H1 2025 reflected both stability and change. Total disclosed deal value rose sharply to $60.01bn, compared to $12.3bn in H1 2024, even as overall volumes edged lower.
This step-up in value was largely the result of the $34.5bn Charter–Cox Communications mega deal, which significantly lifted headline figures. Stripping out this outlier, average deal size falls back to around $219m, underscoring the steady flow of mid-market transactions across regions and subsectors.
The decline in overall deal volumes alongside a sharp increase in average deal size points to a market defined less by volume-driven activity and more by larger, strategically significant transactions.
Excluding the impact of the single outsized deal, aggregate value growth of nearly 90% underlines a clear pivot towards bigger-ticket opportunities. This dynamic reflects buyers’ focus on scale and quality, even as the total number of deals contracts. Together, these trends signal a market where fewer but materially larger deals are shaping the landscape.
H1 2024 | H1 2025 | Year on year % | |
Total deals | 631 | 541 | -14.4% |
Total disclosed deal value | 12.36bn USD | 60.01bn USD | 385.5% |
Total disclosed deal value (excl. outlier) | 12.36bn USD | 23.31bn USD | 88.6% |
Average deal value | 98.9m USD | 560.9m USD | 467.1% |
Average deal value (excl. outlier) | 98.9m USD | 219.95 USD | +122% |
Mid-market deals are where strategic value is being created today – these aren't headline-grabbing transactions, but the smart moves that define long-term growth.
In H1 2025, we see the media industry at a crossroads, pulled between the forces of rapid disruption and the pull of stability.
On the one hand, innovation is accelerating. AI has moved beyond experimentation to become an essential tool for localisation, ad optimisation and creative automation. Social commerce is also maturing, with agencies building full-service operations around TikTok Shop and Instagram Checkout, turning experiments into acquisition-ready businesses. Elsewhere, audience shifts – like YouTube overtaking ITV as the UK’s second most-watched media source – signal that traditional broadcasters are losing centrality.
On the other hand, stabilising factors are also at play. Hybrid and immersive events are anchoring loyalty while delivering dependable returns, private equity is consolidating niche sectors with buy-and-build strategies, and dealmaking is slowing as extended diligence reflects both caution in valuations and a more deliberate, mature approach to investment.
Media trends to watch in H2 2025:
Commerce-content fusion: Agency-led social commerce is creating a pipeline of specialist, acquisition-ready operators.
The boundaries between gaming, entertainment, live sports and brand-led media are blurring fast, creating new battlegrounds for audience attention and investment.
In H1 2025, deal across these sectors show how convergence is reshaping the media landscape: gaming is pulling in record capital, streaming and cinema are recalibrating around regional relevant, live sports are evolving into storytellers, and brands are imbedding themselves deeper into cultural touchpoints. Together, these shifts highlight where momentum is building and where the next wave of media growth will play out.
$4bn - Gaming deals in H1 2025
If there was any doubt that gaming could dominate 2025’s media dealmaking, H1 has put it to rest. Nearly $4bn of disclosed transactions shows the sector is no longer a side play, but the beating heart of media M&A.
Mobile-native experiences are attracting the largest bets, as publishers and platforms race to capture audiences beyond the console. Deals such as Scopely's $3.5bn acquisition of Niantic Games underline the strategic importance of AR and location-based gaming, while Apple's move for indie studio RAC7 reinforces the value of curated catalogues. At the frontier, AI-powered game worlds and Web3-ready assets are commanding investor attention.
$426m - Streaming deals in H1 2025
Streaming remains a magnet for audiences, but growth has slowed, forcing platforms to adapt. The new logic is less about global dominance and more about regional reach and lifestyle relevance.
Warner Bros Discovery's $57m deal for OSN, alongside Roku's $185m acquisition of Frndly TV reflect this pivot. Cinema, too, is finding fresh momentum – investors see regional operators like Pathe Cinemas as viable plays on experience-led consumption in a post-pandemic world. Even sports leagues are stepping into content creation, with Major League Baseball's undisclosed deal for Jomboy Media signalling a shift from rights-holder to storyteller.
$1,669bn - Social media deals in H1 2025
Brands are chasing more than eyeballs – they want cultural credibility. That has made social-first and brand-driven media assets the new hot commodities.
The acquisition of Brilliant by Brand Revolution shows how traditional strategy and influencer-first creative are being fused into one offer. Even niche agencies, such as Medalist’s purchase of Social Media Pros in home services, demonstrate how micro-vertical expertise can scale through social. Private capital is following suit, backing licensing and brand extension firms like Beanstalk to monetise cultural assets long-term.
Gaming, streaming, and social commerce aren’t just growth areas, they’re proving grounds. How companies leverage these sectors to integrate content, commerce and AI will define leadership in the next phase of media M&A.
$42bn | $45bn | >70% |
Target value | Buyer value | Of global deal flow |
The US remains the centre of gravity, commanding more than 70% of global deal flow and driving headline value above $40bn.
Scale still matters, as seen in the $34.5bn Charter–Cox merger, but the more telling story is the sectoral depth: gaming, adtech and AI continue to dominate.
Notable transactions, from Scopely’s $3.5bn acquisition of Niantic’s gaming division, to HIG Capital’s $1bn purchase of Kantar Media, reveal the country’s appetite for both consumer-facing IP and the measurement infrastructure behind it.
$7.6bn | $7.2bn | China | Japan |
Target value | Buyer value | Top target | Top in volume |
APAC saw a blend of high-value and high-volume transactions, especially in gaming and audio platforms.
Tencent Music’s $2.4bn acquisition of audio platform Ximalaya cements its ambition to own the spoken-word and podcasting space in China – mirroring Western consolidation in streaming audio.
Korean gaming giant Krafton led two significant moves: a $517m acquisition of Japan’s ADK, expanding into media-advertising IP and a strategic majority stake in Neptune Games from Kakao for $115m, reinforcing cross-Korean consolidation in the mobile gaming space.
$3.2bn | $2.6bn | #3 | #4 |
Target value | Buyer value | Global target | Global acquirer |
The UK continues to prove itself as a strategic target, particularly for heritage brands and high-value IP.
Redbird Capital's $673m acquisition of Telegraph Media Group is a signal of confidence in premium journalism assets with loyal subscriber bases and the added potential of licensing and events.
Publishing giant Penguin Random House acquired children's storytelling brand Lost My Name (undisclosed), reaffirming interest in family and youth-focused IP with proven digital traction. Harlan Capital's acquisition of live-event company This is Beyond adds another chapter to the growing narrative around experiential media assets.
$2.4bn | $2.6bn | #4 | #3 |
Target value | Buyer value | Global target | Global acquirer |
Western Europe was quieter but still saw strategically significant movement.
PPF IM's $247m stake in ProSieben reinforces confidence in traditional broadcasters pivoting to digital. Ipsos' acquisition of the BVA Family enhances its insights portfolio in a region still under pressure for measurement innovation.
Meanwhile, WMH’s purchase of Cocotte Communication and Worldeye Technologies’ acquisition of adtech firm BidX signal a growing trend: targeted acquisitions of mid-sized, specialised service firms to enable cross-border growth. The management buyout of Twin Sails Interactive from Asmodee underscores rising momentum in independent gaming publishing.
As we move into the second half of 2025, the winners will be those who balance innovation with discipline, patience with strategic foresight. The media landscape rewards careful capital allocation, thoughtful timing and a clear focus on high-impact opportunities.
From AI and social commerce to regional growth markets, understanding which investments truly matter will define success in a market increasingly defined by precision rather than speed.
While deal volumes are holding steady, the extended timelines we're seeing signal something more important than just caution: they show that companies and investors are asking tougher questions about value, growth potential and the long-term fit of assets.
In a market like this, speed is no longer an advantage; insight and patience are. Those who invest the time to understand how technology, audience behaviour and content strategy intersect will be the ones able to unlock transformative opportunities, rather than simply chasing transactions.