The DPP has published its DPP European Media Trends 2026 report, which reveals a media ecosystem undergoing a rapid, technology-driven transformation, with artificial intelligence (AI) emerging as the dominant force driving strategic change.
The report is based on two distinct pieces of research: how audiences across 11 European markets are consuming streaming services, online and social video, and linear TV; and live surveys conducted at the DPP European Broadcaster Summit 2026 in Paris.
It reveals five key themes within the European media industry:
- Global platforms dominate Europe’s streaming shift
- AI-led transformation is driving a technology strategy rethink
- AI-assisted coding tools are re-shaping the build vs buy debate
- What’s really driving cloud strategies: sovereignty or cost?
- Digital vs linear is still an industry-defining challenge
The report confirms that AI has become the dominant driver of technological change over the past year, prompting the majority of European broadcasters and their suppliers to rethink their core technology strategies.
“Developments in AI capabilities are also changing operating models,” added the report. “A quarter of European media companies are beginning a shift to build more in-house components or ‘glue’, enabled by AI-assisted development tools.”
According to the DPP’s findings, there is also a growing appetite for digital sovereignty as part of business resilience plans within European media companies. As a result, many are exploring approaches such as adopting specialised ‘Sovereign Cloud’ solutions, implementing multi-cloud strategies to avoid single-vendor lock-in, and even repatriating certain critical workloads, said the report.
“AI is not just a new tool; it has emerged as the unequivocally dominant driver of technological change, prompting a rethink of technology strategies across the European media ecosystem,” said report author Edward Qualtrough.
“This transformation, combined with growing data sovereignty concerns, means European media companies are actively exploring the extent to which they are able to reduce their reliance on US-based hyperscalers to ensure business resilience and digital sovereignty.”
