Broadcasters’ 2026 outlook defined by AI, trust, revenue pressures

As broadcasters head into 2026, the year ahead is taking shape less as a single turning point than as a set of overlapping pressures.

Artificial intelligence is moving from experimentation to deployment. Local and national newsrooms are recalibrating how audiences find and trust information. And the economic foundations of the open web are under renewed strain as AI-driven discovery reshapes traffic and revenue.

Executives across news, stations and digital advertising describe a year defined by uneven progress, faster cycles and higher stakes. Their outlooks suggest that technology gains will be real, but so will the risks.

AI moves from option to operational force

For Michael Corn, president of programming and specials at NewsNation, artificial intelligence is no longer a side conversation.

“The shift to AI is clearly going to have a dramatic impact on all aspects of our business,” Corn said. He pointed to faster processing and distribution of complex information across linear and digital platforms, alongside changes in how newsrooms are staffed.

Corn said the technology could also narrow the visual gap between smaller operations and large legacy organizations, raising production quality without equivalent cost increases. In that environment, he added, reporting strength and audience trust in on-air talent become more important, not less.

That same technology, however, could push the industry into uncomfortable territory. Corn said he would not be surprised to see a fully AI-hosted news program emerge in 2026.

“I think, or hope, it will fail, but I expect to increasingly see it,” he said, describing likely experiments that remove human presenters altogether.

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Trust becomes harder to maintain

Corn’s larger concern is not automation inside the newsroom, but what audiences encounter outside it. He warned that high-quality fake videos and fabricated news reports are becoming easier for consumers to produce and distribute — using tools such as Runway or OpenAI’s Sora.

“The need for trusted sources will become even more important,” he said, adding that nonpartisan journalism will matter more as synthetic media grows harder to distinguish from real reporting.

Dak’s Take: Local broadcasters are bleeding trust while ‘news influencers’ gain voice

That emphasis on trust is also shaping how station groups think about programming and technology investments.

For Jennifer Mitchell, president of stations at CBS News and Stations, the most significant shift ahead is how tools are used to deepen local relevance.

Mitchell said technology will have the widest influence on broadcasters in 2026, particularly in local news, where storytelling and context are central to maintaining audience connection.

“There’s so much opportunity to unlock new ways to connect with our audiences and create innovative storytelling that matters to local communities – from election night results to critical weather developments,” said Mitchell.

CBS Stations, for example, has invested in augmented and virtual studios across major markets, with additional launches planned for 2026.

“These next-gen spaces are transforming how our teams tell stories, with context, clarity and creativity at the center,” Mitchell said. “Technology helps enhance how we tell stories that matter to local communities, and contextualize them in ways that build trust and connection.”

She tied those investments directly to audience behavior.

CBS Stations’ streaming minutes were up 10%, reaching 10.7 billion minutes, with most station streams on pace to set records for viewership in 2025. Mitchell said the growth reflects how viewers increasingly move between broadcast, streaming and social platforms throughout the day.

Broadcast and digital continue to converge

Mitchell rejected the idea that broadcasters face a binary choice between linear and digital delivery. Traditional broadcast, she said, remains essential during breaking news and major live events, when reach and reliability matter most. Digital platforms, meanwhile, shape discovery and ongoing engagement.

“It’s not about traditional broadcast versus digital platforms,” Mitchell said. “It’s about utilizing these tools together to deepen value, reach and trust with our audience.”

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CBS News 24/7, the company’s streaming news feed that uses AR and virtual elements, illustrates that approach. The service posted 14% year-over-year growth in minutes viewed, according to the company, and has become a core part of its digital strategy.

Mitchell also pointed to the role of talent in that transition. CBS Stations has focused on giving on-air journalists tools to engage audiences on social platforms, extending their presence beyond scheduled newscasts. She said the approach helps build familiarity and trust, particularly as viewers encounter local news first through digital channels rather than linear broadcasts.

“With news consumption habits changing, we’re embracing these changes as an opportunity to reach more people, while also creating new revenue streams for the business,” said Mitchell. 

The economics of discovery are under strain

While broadcasters focus on production and distribution, the business model supporting digital media is under pressure.

Anthony Katsur, CEO of IAB Tech Lab, said large language models are accelerating a shift that is already eroding publisher revenue.

Zero-click behavior now accounts for nearly 60% of searches, Katsur said, driving double-digit declines in referral traffic for many publishers and sharper drops for news organizations. As AI-generated summaries replace traditional search pathways, audience attention increasingly stays inside AI platforms.

That imbalance, he said, is drawing regulatory and legal scrutiny worldwide. Courts and policymakers are pushing back on AI systems that rely on copyrighted content without compensation, signaling what Katsur described as a global move toward enforcing economic fairness.

“As audiences migrate toward AI-mediated discovery and traditional search-based business models erode, the industry will be forced to pursue a durable, long-term economic model,” he said.

Without that adjustment, Katsur warned, the open web risks structural decline at the moment its content is most valuable to AI systems.

Progress, with uneven results

Katsur expects meaningful AI-driven efficiencies in 2026, particularly in creative generation and copywriting, where automation is already shortening production cycles. Broader agentic AI systems, he said, will see continued experimentation but fragmented execution as standards and practices evolve.

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Is 2026 the year agentic AI moves from theory to operations in media production?

Taken together, these perspectives point to a year defined less by breakthrough moments than by the pressure to adapt responsibly. AI will speed up workflows and reshape discovery. Visual quality will become easier to achieve, but trust will be harder to earn. And the business rules underpinning digital media will remain unsettled.

“Our mission remains the same – to serve our local communities and keep them informed,” said Mitchell.”This means evolving along with them on how we deliver local news across both traditional broadcast and digital platforms.”

For broadcasters, 2026 is shaping up as a year where technology decisions carry fewer margins for error, and where credibility, not novelty, may be the most valuable asset.