All through December we’re rolling out an exclusive series of Q&As with the sector’s leading thinkers as they peer into their digital crystal balls and offer their take on what the next 12 months could bring.
Today’s predictions are from Objekt’s co founder Bart Frank;
What’s the single biggest shift you expect to see in digital-first production and publishing in 2026?
An aggressive shift from brands moving into the space. The signs are there. There’s some great success cases already particularly in the youth-skewing brands. And as has been widely publicised – 55-to-64 is the fastest growing audience on YouTube. This coupled with seismic marketing shifts and the continued decline of traditional TV is causing brand leaders to wake up to the opportunity.
Which platform behaviour or algorithm change do you think will matter most next year, and why?
YouTube’s updates to their TV app. TV viewership on YouTube is skyrocketing. The planned changes signify that they are serious about competing with the big streamers and traditional broadcasters to increase their market share in the living room. This removes the traditional barriers to entry for entertainment consumed inside the home. It is arguably the biggest shift in TV viewing history: literally anyone can now create a show, format, or movie that has the potential to reach a mass TV audience without a gatekeeper.
Where will your company’s biggest increase in revenue come from in 2026 – CPMs, brand spend, partnerships, new revenue models or something else?
Brand spend. Enquiries from brands looking for digital entertainment is at a record high for us. And I can only see this going one way. Historically, this has made up the majority of our revenue, but next year is primed for a significant spike. With more brands looking to launch their own channels and shifting towards a ‘digital entertainment-first’ content strategy, we’re incredibly excited about 2026.
What creative formats or genres do you think will break out next year?
True Crime is absolutely booming and is an area we’re incredibly interested in. We recently launched our own channel – Gripped: True Crime – to build our own audience in this space. On a broader note, as the digital space becomes more crowded, uniqueness will be the primary currency. Channels brave enough to avoid following the crowd, opting instead to create genuinely new and exciting formats, will see the biggest returns. However, this creative bravery must be paired with a deep, data-led understanding of how YouTube audiences actually behave.
How do you expect the relationship between traditional broadcasters/ distributors and digital-native studios to evolve in 2026?
We’ve been pioneering new ways of working in this space – for example, partnering directly with distribution company Rocket Rights to co-own a YouTube channel built on library content, with plans to introduce original formats down the line. We are also in talks with traditional production companies on how to leverage their existing IP in the digital landscape. Broadcasters are increasingly looking at digital-native studios like Objekt that know how to produce high-quality content at a more efficient price point. The successful transition of formats like Inside from YouTube to Netflix has paved the way for broadcasters to view digital IP and producers as capable of creating hit formats. This will be a defining trend of 2026.
What’s one data point, trend, or move from 2025 that people are underestimating – and what does it signal?
That 86% of people actively avoid adverts. This highlights how broken the current brand marketing system is. Brands are being forced to pay increasingly high premiums to reach viewers through unskippable slots. Marketing has become so performance-focused at the expense of brand building, and we are hitting a breaking point. Brave (and smart) marketing managers recognise that something needs to change. 2026 will be the year brands shift away from performance-marketing output toward brand-building, digital entertainment-first strategies.
If you could give one piece of advice to producers or creators preparing for 2026’s digital-first landscape, what would it be?
You have to deeply understand the platforms you’re producing for. If you only focus on creating content because ‘you want to make it’ or ‘it looks cool’, you won’t succeed. Data and creativity must work in tandem.
Anything else to add?!
TV is in decline. Traditional advertising models are collapsing. Digital entertainment is the future. 2026 is going to be a transformational year.
