CES isn’t about gadgets anymore, but who controls the interface between audiences, data, and distribution.
Welcome back to The Media Odyssey Podcast! From CES, Evan Shapiro and Alan Wolk, Co-Founder and Lead Analyst of TVREV, unpack what this year’s show revealed about the future of media, entertainment, and technology while expanding on their predictions for 2026.
Beyond the hype of AI demos and hardware announcements, the conversation centers on power shifts: who owns how we get information, who controls discovery, and which companies are quietly positioning themselves as the new gatekeepers.
Rather than signaling a breakout moment, CES reinforces a familiar reality. Platforms are consolidating influence, AI is moving into the background, and media companies face shrinking control over how audiences find and engage with content.
Key Takeaways:
1. Media Is Entering a Prolonged Era of “Feudal Fragmentation”
Alan predicts that the monoculture is gone for the foreseeable future, replaced by thousands of disconnected content bubbles with their own truths, celebrities, and norms. This fragmentation isn’t new, but it will deepen through the rest of the decade, making shared cultural moments increasingly rare.
2. There Is No Longer a Single Source of Truth and That Has Consequences
The loss of mass media gatekeepers means audiences now operate from entirely different realities. News can be fully ignored, expertise is routinely dismissed, and misinformation thrives because there is no longer a common reference point for facts.
3. The End of Expertise Is Both Dangerous and Liberating
Traditional experts and institutional authority are losing power, but this also enables creators and outsiders to build massive media businesses without permission. The upside is democratization, the downside is the erosion of trust in skill, craft, and knowledge.
4. Power in Media Is Decentralizing Away from Hollywood
Alan predicts that media power will continue to disperse geographically and structurally. New creator-led studios are emerging in Texas, Brazil, Nigeria, and beyond, attracting talent away from traditional Hollywood centers as production costs fall.
5. Niche Audiences Will Become the Foundation of Sustainable Media Businesses
The era of building new mega-brands is over. Instead, companies and creators will build profitable businesses around passionate, well-defined niche communities. Even if those audiences are invisible to the mainstream.
6. Discovery and Serendipity Are Breaking Down
Algorithmic feeds increasingly show audiences more of what they already like, making it harder for genuinely new ideas to surface. Alan predicts fewer breakout cultural movements and more recycling of familiar formats, sounds, and franchises.
7. Sports Remains the Last True Monoculture
Live sports still cut across bubbles and deliver shared, simultaneous experiences. Alan predicts sports will retain outsized importance for advertisers and platforms, even as niche sports slowly grow and fragment over time.
Thank you, Alan Wolk for joining the pod! https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanwolk/
Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8
Connect with us on Linkedin:
Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/
Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/
The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast
- (00:00) - Introduction and Guest Introduction
- (00:45) - First Impressions of CES
- (01:38) - Predictions for the Media Industry
- (02:19) - Descent into Feudal Media
- (02:50) - The Concept of Monoculture
- (06:43) - Fragmentation of Media and Advertising Challenges
- (19:57) - Rise of Decentralized Media Power
- (22:13) - The Downside of Algorithmic Recommendations
- (23:32) - The Loss of Serendipity in Media Discovery
- (24:24) - Challenges in Finding Quality Content
- (25:31) - The Role of Curators in Media Discovery
- (29:21) - The Rise of Niche Audiences
- (32:05) - The Continued Importance of Sports
- (37:14) - The Future of Media and AI's Role
- (39:24) - Advice for Navigating the Changing Media Landscape