📊 Media Market Bets on AI Search, Free Streaming, and a Overhaul of Legacy KPIs

According to Forrester’s forecast, by 2027 the industry will face a simultaneous slowdown in paid streaming subscriber growth, a continued exodus from linear TV, and a mass migration of consumers toward AI-powered product search. In response, market players will aggressively adopt conversational advertising, double down on free hybrid tiers, and measure effectiveness not by impressions, but by share of voice within AI-generated responses.

AI Search and Conversational Advertising

The shift from standard search engines to ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Google’s AI tools is transforming brand communication. Consumers increasingly combine product selection, feature comparison, and purchasing into a single dialogue with a neural network. Forrester analysts expect conversational ads integrated directly into algorithmic responses to evolve into a multi-billion-dollar segment. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, and TikTok are cited among the key beneficiaries and developers of these formats.

This AI shift will force media buyers to abandon traditional metrics. Classic impressions are giving way to a new core KPI: Share of Recommendation (SoR). This metric tracks how frequently an algorithm recommends a specific brand for relevant topic queries.

The Russian market is already responding to this trend. According to a joint study by Native Speech and Avito Advertising, 35% of Russian users turn to AI to fact-check information, 34% use it to discover brand options, and 30% rely on it to compare prices and specifications. Meanwhile, data from RateMe confirms that product visibility across AI search modules and chatbots varies significantly, making a brand’s ordinal position in a neural network’s output—rather than mere mention—a factor of critical importance.

Free Streaming, Smart Devices, and Women’s Sports

In pursuit of broader reach, streaming services will continue to lower the barrier to entry. Forrester estimates that at least three major SVOD platforms (potentially including Disney+ and Netflix) will launch fully free, ad-supported tiers (FAST/AVOD). This model is also showing momentum in Russia: according to Telecom Daily, local video streaming revenue rose by 31% year-over-year in H1 2026 (reaching RUB 99.5 billion), while AVOD ad revenues climbed 10% to RUB 3.2 billion.

Analysts highlight two other major growth vectors for the media market:

• Wearable Tech Advertising: Navigation prompts, recommendation cards, and shoppable experiences delivered through AR glasses and smart devices.
• Reallocation of Sports Budgets: At least five Fortune 500 companies are expected to shift a portion of their sponsorship dollars from men’s to women’s sports, driven by expanding audience reach and anticipation of the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.