By Irshad Khan 
Global television revenues are projected to decline by approximately $42 billion through 2029, according to recent industry analysis and market forecasts, representing one of the most significant contractions in the history of broadcast and cable television. The forecasted revenue collapse reflects the accelerating decline of traditional linear TV, cord-cutting’s relentless expansion, advertising market fragmentation, and the streaming era’s fundamental disruption of legacy television’s business model. By 2029, total global TV revenues are expected to fall to approximately $198 billion from current levels exceeding $240 billion, marking a cumulative loss of nearly one-fifth of the industry’s total revenue base. This seismic shift will devastate legacy media companies, force consolidation of broadcast and cable networks, and permanently alter employment opportunities across television production, distribution, and sales—compounding the layoffs and restructuring already devastating the entertainment industry throughout 2025.
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The $42 Billion Collapse: Television Industry in Free Fall
Industry forecasting firms including MoffettNathanson, Statista, and specialized media research organizations have released projections indicating that global television revenues will contract by approximately $42 billion between 2025 and 2029. The decline represents a reduction from approximately $240 billion in current annual revenues to roughly $198 billion by 2029—a cumulative loss representing nearly 18% of the entire television industry’s revenue base within just four years. This projection assumes continued cord-cutting, accelerating advertiser migration to digital platforms, and the ongoing structural collapse of cable and broadcast television business models in developed markets.
These revenue projections emerge not from speculation but from documented trends across the industry. Pay-TV subscriptions in North America have declined for over a decade, with the total subscriber base shrinking from approximately 100 million households in 2010 to fewer than 70 million by 2025. Simultaneously, advertising spending on traditional television has migrated to streaming platforms, social media, and digital channels where targeting precision and measurable ROI appeal to advertisers. The result is a television industry experiencing simultaneous revenue losses from both subscription contraction and advertising fragmentation—a double squeeze that leaves legacy media companies with collapsing revenue bases and rising production costs.
Cord-Cutting Acceleration and Streaming Cannibalization
The accelerating pace of cord-cutting represents the primary driver of television industry revenue decline. During the pandemic, cord-cutting actually slowed as consumers confined to homes renewed cable subscriptions for entertainment. However, post-pandemic cord-cutting has resumed and accelerated dramatically. Industry reports indicate that approximately 6-8 million households annually cut cable subscriptions in North America alone, with similar trends appearing across Europe, Latin America, and other developed markets. At this rate of attrition, traditional cable television could cease representing a dominant media distribution method by 2030.
Simultaneously, streaming services cannibalizing traditional television audiences create additional revenue pressure. Consumers who previously watched broadcast television or cable now migrate to Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and other platforms. Advertising that previously funded broadcast and cable networks now follows audiences to streaming platforms that often offer lower-cost advertising inventory competing with traditional TV advertising rates. This dual migration—viewers leaving cable, then advertisers following viewers to streaming—creates the revenue collapse forecasted through 2029.
Advertising Market Fragmentation and Structural Decline
Beyond cord-cutting’s viewer losses, the television industry faces catastrophic advertising market disruption. Television advertising historically funded content production because TV commanded unparalleled reach and efficiency for brand messaging. However, digital platforms now offer superior targeting, measurability, and ROI compared to traditional television advertising. Advertisers have increasingly shifted budgets to programmatic digital advertising, social media, and search engine marketing where they can precisely target specific demographics and measure conversion directly.
According to CNBC and Economic Times reporting, advertising spending that once funded television has fragmented across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Google Search, and other digital platforms where advertising rates are substantially lower than traditional television. Television advertising spend has declined annually for years, a trend forecasted to accelerate through 2029. Even as networks achieve modest ratings increases in specific demographics, overall advertising revenue continues declining because fewer advertisers are willing to pay historical rates for television placements when digital alternatives offer superior targeting and measurement.
International Collapse Compounds North American Decline
While North American cord-cutting has received significant industry attention, international television revenue collapse may ultimately prove more damaging. European television markets face cord-cutting trends exceeding North American rates in many countries, with pay-TV penetration declining sharply in UK, Germany, France, and Scandinavia. Latin American television markets historically dependent on advertising revenue face steep advertiser reallocation toward streaming and digital platforms. Even Asian markets, which represented growth opportunities for legacy television, are experiencing accelerating streaming adoption and cord-cutting trends.
The Broadcasting & Cable reported that global pay-TV subscriber losses now exceed 10 million households annually across all markets combined—a pace suggesting traditional pay-TV could become economically insignificant within a decade. Revenue forecasts through 2029 account for continued international deterioration, with the $42 billion projected loss distributed globally rather than concentrated in any single region. This worldwide revenue collapse suggests that legacy television company consolidation and downsizing will be global phenomena rather than limited to North American markets.
The Role of Streaming Economics and Competition
Ironically, the streaming services cannibalizing traditional television revenues are themselves unprofitable or marginally profitable, unable to offset legacy media companies’ collapsing revenues. Netflix, despite becoming the streaming market leader, maintains razor-thin profit margins. Disney+ and other streaming services continue losing money despite subscriber growth. Amazon Prime Video operates as a loss leader subsidized by Amazon’s e-commerce profits. Apple TV+, though expensive to produce, operates at losses to subsidize Apple’s broader ecosystem.
The industry is thus experiencing a situation where legacy television revenues are collapsing not because consumers and advertisers are migrating to profitable alternatives, but because they’re migrating to economically unsustainable streaming platforms operating at losses. This creates a fundamental paradox: the television industry is being destroyed by competition from services that don’t make money and may never achieve profitability at scale. The revenue decline is real and devastating, but the streaming alternatives cannibalizing traditional TV aren’t generating sustainable replacement revenue.
Employment Devastation: Beyond Current Layoffs
The $42 billion revenue decline through 2029 projects catastrophic employment losses that will dwarf the thousands of entertainment jobs already eliminated during 2025’s layoffs. Television networks, production companies, distribution platforms, and support services employ hundreds of thousands globally. Revenue declines of this magnitude necessitate workforce reductions far exceeding current levels. If television revenues decline 18% by 2029, employment across the industry would face pressure to contract by similar percentages to maintain profit margins—potentially representing hundreds of thousands of additional job losses.
Below-the-line workers—camera operators, editors, production assistants, sound engineers, grips, and other crew members—will face particularly severe impacts as production volume declines proportionately with revenue. Sales organizations, marketing departments, administrative functions, and executive leadership will all face reductions. The Deadline article noted: “The revenue collapse projected through 2029 suggests that entertainment industry employment losses in 2025 represent just the beginning of a multi-year restructuring that will fundamentally alter career opportunities across television production, distribution, and sales.”
Legacy Media Company Survival Crisis
For legacy media companies like Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, and others historically dependent on television revenues, the $42 billion forecasted decline represents an existential threat. These companies operate complex business portfolios spanning film, television, streaming, parks, and merchandise, but television traditionally represented the revenue foundation funding the entire enterprise. As that foundation erodes, companies must either dramatically restructure operations or face insolvency.
This financial pressure explains the consolidation wave currently transforming the industry. Paramount-Skydance’s merger, potential Paramount-WBD acquisitions, and other consolidation efforts represent desperate attempts to achieve scale and cost efficiency sufficient to survive in a contracting industry. Companies that successfully consolidate might achieve the size and efficiency necessary to operate at lower profit margins in the contracted post-2029 television environment. Companies unable to consolidate or achieve efficiency improvements face potential bankruptcy or forced sales at distressed valuations.
Geographic and Demographic Variation in Decline
While global television revenues are projected to decline $42 billion through 2029, the decline won’t distribute evenly geographically. North American markets, where cord-cutting is most advanced and streaming penetration highest, will experience steeper revenue declines than emerging markets where traditional television remains dominant. However, all global regions face downward revenue pressure as streaming adoption accelerates globally and advertising markets fragment worldwide.
Demographic shifts also affect revenue distribution. Younger audiences increasingly reject traditional television entirely, receiving entertainment exclusively through streaming and digital platforms. This generational divide means that as older demographics age and younger cohorts replace them, television’s audience shrinks structurally rather than cyclically. No reversal of cord-cutting appears possible because the underlying demographic and technological trends driving the decline appear permanent.
What Happens After 2029: Long-Term Industry Transformation
The $42 billion revenue decline through 2029 projects only halfway toward traditional television’s ultimate contraction. Forecasts beyond 2029 suggest continued deterioration through the 2030s as streaming eventually matures and newer platforms emerge. The television industry forecasted for the 2030s may bear minimal resemblance to today’s industry, with traditional broadcast and cable television representing niche offerings rather than mainstream entertainment, revenue bases concentrated among surviving consolidated companies, and employment opportunities dramatically reduced from historic levels.
For entertainment workers, particularly those dependent on traditional television for employment, the $42 billion projected decline through 2029 represents confirmation that fundamental industry restructuring is underway. The layoffs occurring in 2025 are the leading edge of a multi-year employment contraction that will reshape career opportunities and force entire professional communities to adapt to a structurally transformed entertainment industry. The television industry that will exist in 2029, with $42 billion less in annual revenue, will be fundamentally different from today’s industry—smaller, more consolidated, less diverse, and offering fewer employment opportunities for the hundreds of thousands currently working in television-dependent roles.