Media Trends Executive

Media Deals

Media Trends

Axios Media Trends

Bar charts show annual disclosed media deal values across five segments from 2022 to 2026. Distribution and platform leads in 2026 at nearly $48 billion, followed by interactive and events at $6 billion, creator economy and tooling at $7 billion, and content and IP at $4 billion.

Disclosed media deal value by sub-segment

Data: Mergermarket, AlixPartners analysis; Note: Includes private equity and venture-backed deals by announced year; Chart: Christine Wang/Axios

The era of cheap money is over, but not every media buyer is feeling the pain.

Why it matters: Rising borrowing costs are giving cash-rich companies and strategic investors an advantage over debt-reliant buyers.

By the numbers: Media M&A deal value has reached $64.8 billion so far this year, approaching the $72.3 billion recorded for all of 2025, according to AlixPartners' analysis of Mergermarket data.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose from roughly 4.2% at the start of the year to as high as 5.3% last month.

Spreads on BB-rated debt widened roughly 30 basis points, while spreads on B-rated debt increased nearly 65 basis points, over the course of this year so far, according to JPMorgan.

State of play: Higher borrowing costs have shifted the balance of power toward strategic buyers that can use stock and existing cash flow to finance acquisitions.

"I think generally, if you're thinking about strategic buyers, I don't think borrowing costs are really going to affect them materially," says Brian Quinn, an M&A professor at the Boston College Law School.

Strategic buyers accounted for more than 70% of global M&A volume in the first nine months of 2026, up from 64% in 2025, per Eric Menell, global head of media and communications investment banking at JPMorgan.

Between the lines: Strategic buyers benefit from the financial flexibility that assures sellers they can close a deal.

Case in point: Regulatory filings suggest Publicis ultimately landed its $2.2 billion deal to buy LiveRamp against competing parties, in part because it could finalize a transaction. It used its own cash to prevent taking on too much debt.

Warner Bros. Discovery rebuffed Paramount's takeover efforts for months, arguing that without an equity backstop, it was concerned Paramount couldn't close the deal.

The other side: Private equity buyers that live and die in the debt markets are often more sensitive to borrowing-cost impacts on deal prices, per Quinn. They may be less competitive against strategic buyers for certain assets.

For example, DoubleVerify favored Nielsen's bid over a competing offer that was higher but required more time to secure money to close. An analyst has speculated that the other bidder was rival Integral Ad Science, backed by private equity firm Novacap.

Highly leveraged deals, like the Paramount-WBD merger, tend to drive smaller asset sales to pay down debt. Skydance says it's evaluating noncore assets.

Reality check: Incremental increases in borrowing costs haven't materially changed the economics of transactions Moelis has worked on, says Carlos Jimenez, the firm's global head of media, sports and entertainment.

"50 [or] 100 basis points doesn't change the outcome as to whether or not you should be consummating that transaction, thus far. That could change over time," Jimenez says.

Private equity firms can tap insurance-backed capital that can accept lower returns and longer holding periods, per Menell.

Yes, but: The financing squeeze is particularly hard for slower-growing media companies with debt coming due.

Businesses that borrowed at low rates in 2021 and 2022 could face significantly higher costs when those obligations mature.

"You could barely refinance or maybe even not be able to refinance," says Jeff Goldstein, co-head of global media and entertainment at AlixPartners.

Zoom out: Buyers that don't want the burden of high leverage are eyeing smaller, more sustainable mergers and acquisition targets, says Larry Swets, partner and head of merchant banking at FG Merchant Partners.

Growth assets made sense when buying was cheaper. Now, companies that don't need capital or "can survive some period of time without cheap money fueling their business plan" are attractive, Swets says.

The big picture: Media companies are trying to break themselves up in order to create more value and financial flexibility.

Comcast has already spun out its cable networks and has said it plans to do the same for NBCUniversal.

Lionsgate separated its business from Starz to give each company financial independence to pursue their own growth plans.

What to watch: Higher borrowing costs could also delay transactions or force sellers to lower their price expectations.

"When rates rise, buyer price expectations usually reset faster than sellers do," Menell says.

Hollywood's M&A playbook shifts from scale to scarcity

Middlemen squeezed in AI's ad tech shakeout

Sports, live events and data are media' hottest deal targets

Sports dealmaking triples as investors chase scarce assets

Middle Eastern investors grow more selective on U.S. media deals

State antitrust challenges complicate media mergers

Higher borrowing costs reshape media deals

Rising borrowing costs are giving cash-rich companies and strategic investors an advantage over debt-reliant buyers.

Corporate earnings and M&A

Dealmaking

Economy, finance & markets

Federal Reserve & interest rates

Media & journalism industry

The era of cheap money is over, but not every media buyer is feeling the pain.Why it matters: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Rising borrowing costs" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2026/09/27/rates-borrowing-yields-fiscal" data-vars-content-id="89b7717f-7678-4a52-b41e-c88f0fb033fa" data-vars-headline="Higher borrowing costs reshape media deals" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2026/09/27/rates-borrowing-yields-fiscal" target="_self">Rising borrowing costs</a> are giving cash-rich companies and strategic investors an advantage over debt-reliant buyers.

Latest news on Wall Street, Corporate America and financial regulation.

Business

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Higher borrowing costs reshape media deals

What to read next