Sky News’ Head of Commercial Partnerships Joe Harbinson shares his 2026 digital-first predictions.
What’s the single biggest shift you expect to see in digital-first production and publishing in 2026?
I think 2025 was the year digital teams in traditional media cos stopped “cutting down” TV and start designing and optimising their overall output for multiple platforms. 2026 will be a consolidation of this approach, and as platforms keep pushing longer premium content you’ll see more projects commissioned from day one with a clear multi platform, multi format spine: vertical, live, podcast, CTV and broadcast all planned together, not as an afterthought. The real shift is operational, not creative!
Which platform behaviour or algorithm change do you think will matter most next year, and why?
We’ve opened the doors to AI slop, and whilst that can’t be undone, I think audiences, advertisers and by extension platforms will start (I hope) to see the value of high quality human made content. As a result I see a bifurcation in the way platforms serve and suggest human made vs AI generate content, the US launch of a Sora app shows there’s space for pure AI, and it won’t be long until we see specific spaces on the likes of TikTok and YouTube for AI only content.
What creative formats or genres do you think will break out next year?
Personality led increasingly niche content still has headroom, we are fully in a world of parasocial relationships now, so expect to see ‘the talent’ front and centre of more content, in a much more authentic less polished way… i.e more podcasts
How do you expect the relationship between traditional broadcasters/ distributors and digital-native studios to evolve in 2026
I think it has to move from a buyer/supplier relationship to something closer to a true partnership model. Broadcasters bring ad sales capability, distribution and rights expertise, while distributors and digital-native studios bring production capability, speed, format innovation and talent relationships. The interesting deals will be the ones where both sides share IP and data, co-develop and build slates together rather than just handing over a brief.
What’s one data point, trend, or move from 2025 that people are underestimating – and what does it signal?
Linear/ live (but maybe not in the traditional sense). For major events (like the Olympics), appointment to view has never been bigger, and the live tech behind the majors social platforms (Twitch, TikTok and YouTube) had entirely democratised the live broadcast stack, so now you can (and should) be watching Sky News anywhere in the world on YouTube, or go and check out the massive audiences streamers like iShowSpeed draws to his 24/7 live stream stunts.
If you could give one piece of advice to producers or creators preparing for 2026’s digital-first landscape, what would it be?
In the worlds for the great Bruce Lee “Be like water” be adaptable but have force in what you do!
