The Great Production Reset: Inside the 2026 Video Industry Shift

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There are a lot of interesting and exciting things happening in the video production industry and that will be developing in 2026. Some of the trends are technological and some of them are sort of a recovery from past seasons we’ve had in the video production economy. From Team Unity Media’s perspective, we uniquely get to see a lot of insight into different genre’s or types of segments in the industry. Everything from the unscripted work, commercial work, narrative and livestreaming.

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1. We’re in a Post-“Peak TV” Contraction

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It seems in the first few years after Covid there was a huge boom and surge in the demand for content and shows and then there were strikes and now we’re in the hangover from all of that.

The major streamers cut scripted TV commissions by ~24% in 2025 according to an article by CSI Magazine.

This pullback is tied to:

• Economic uncertainty
• profitability pressure
• and the aftermath of the 2023 strikes

Industry employment already fell about 26% from the 2022 peak as production slowed.

What that means on the ground:

• Fewer shows greenlit
• Smaller episode orders
• Fewer crews per show
• Longer gaps between seasons

This isn’t just a dip — it’s a structural correction after “Peak TV.”

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2. US-Based Scripted Production Is Losing Share Globally

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Sadly, Another thing most of us are seeing is the outsourcing of production work to other countries. Countries are offering better tax incentives, labor is cheaper, and sometimes things are much easier to produce in other countries. This is both scary and just outright infuriating to many of us here in the states who are sometimes starving for work.

Streamers are increasingly commissioning content outside North America, with NA dropping to about 37% of new series orders.

International commissions already outnumber US ones in some datasets.

Why?

• Tax incentives overseas
• Lower labor costs
• Governments subsidizing production
• Global subscriber growth outside the U.S.

3. Unscripted Isn’t the Safety Net It Used to Be

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Historically, unscripted was the “strike-proof” work. Unfortunately, with the decrease in demand, streamers and networks are ordering less reality shows, and the big streamers have in house development departments so that means less development deals for freelance producers. Some may argue, this is due to the creator industry and UGC going up on youtube drawing younger audiences there.

Now:

• U.S. unscripted premieres dropped over 8% year-over-year.
• Cable contraction is killing a lot of that volume.

Translation:

• Fewer reality orders
• Fewer development slates
• More franchise-only greenlights

So the backup lane is also narrower.

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4. The Industry Is Still Recovering From the Strike Shockwave

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Even now, the ripple effects are real:

• Studios are still laying people off as they reset budgets and strategies.
• The business is described internally as a “retrenchment after a gigantic expansion.”
• Shoot days in L.A. have dropped to historically low levels.

On the crew level this shows up as:

• Fewer bookings
• Shorter runs
• Rate pressure
• People leaving the industry

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5. Meanwhile — Commercial & Corporate Is Quietly Filling the Gap

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Fortunately, commercial and corporate work is picking up and most of us feel like AI isn’t coming for that lunch money just yet. Brands still need authentic real content, corporations still need interviews, events and internal comms, and sales still need video. Advertising is also going through its own shift to digital, CTV and social – but that also means those channels need that video content as well. I personally think this is where everyone is going to pivot to if they haven’t already.

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6. There Are Way More Cameras — and Way More “Producers”

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Technology is rapidly changing and with that, high quality cameras and other gear can become more affordable. Layer that in with free youtube education from other creators – and you’ve got anyone who wants to be a producer suddenly becoming a producer. We fully thing AI editing is going to progress, but still won’t take away the ‘manual’ labor of editors completely – but it will and has caused a bit of a slow down. Basically now someone on staff at a company can do its own social media advertising with free tools available online for any of us. A few short clips from your phone loaded into an app and a snappy catchy video can be created in less than 60 seconds for you to post on your company page.

At the same time, with all these new producers, the real Vets become that much more valuable with real world experience and knowledge to bring to the table.

Barriers to entry are gone:

• Cheap cinema-level cameras
• YouTube education
• AI tools
• Editing apps on laptops

Result:

• More shooters
• More “one-man bands”
• More underpriced work

Which creates:

• Rate compression
• Clients confused about value
• More noise in the market

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What This Means Specifically for a Crewing & Production Company

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This is where it actually gets strategic.

The Work That’s Shrinking

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• US scripted series volume
• Development slates
• Mid-budget cable content
• Non-franchise unscripted
• Long episodic runs

The Work That’s Growing (Quietly)

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• Commercial production
• Brand storytelling
• Corporate marketing
• Healthcare / finance / tech video
• Political & advocacy media
• Localized regional campaigns
• CTV ad production

In other words:

Entertainment is shrinking.
Business video is expanding.

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The New Competitive Advantage Isn’t Gear

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It’s:

• Nationwide crew network
• Logistics reliability
• Speed to deploy
• Multi-city coordination
• Compliance + insurance
• Ability to scale

My Blunt Industry Take

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We’re in:

The Great Production Reset (2023–2027)

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Characteristics:

• Fewer big shows
• More fragmented content
• More global production
• More brand-funded media
• More freelancers competing
• More pressure on rates
• More demand for efficient crews

It’s uncomfortable because:

The middle tier is getting squeezed.

You either become:

• premium
• specialized
• scalable
• or fast

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The Opportunity Most Crewing Companies Don’t See Yet

The next 5–10 years likely favor companies that can:

• Deploy crews nationally
• Support brand + ad ecosystems
• Provide production + distribution thinking
• Act like infrastructure, not just vendors

Basically:

Production companies that behave like logistics companies win.

(You’re already accidentally building that.)

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