Why Open Wins in 2026: The Economics of the Next Content Era

By Andy Meikle - Founder & CEO, Recast

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Coming out of CES, one theme was impossible to ignore:
The content economy has outgrown the systems built to contain it.

Across media, entertainment, sports, and technology, the conversation wasn’t about creating more content - it was about how content now moves. Instantly, everywhere across platforms, formats, communities, and moments.

For decades, the content economy has operated on the assumption that control requires restriction, and that growth comes at the expense of access. As media and entertainment platforms and content creation evolves, that assumption no longer holds true.

In 2026, the market is reaching an inflection point. The systems that once promised scale through lock-in, rigid bundles, and opaque monetization are now limiting growth. Meanwhile, content itself has never been more abundant, more dynamic, more distributed, or more valuable.

The future of content is not about locking things down tighter. It’s about allowing content to move freely - and ensuring value moves with it. Open markets create access. Access fuels engagement. And engagement drives revenue.

That’s why 2026 isn’t just another year of experimentation. It’s the year the industry acknowledges that open wins - not as an ideal, but as an economic truth.

The Limits of Closed Content Models

Closed platforms and rigid monetization models were built for a different era - one where distribution was scarce, content creation was constrained, and access was the primary bottleneck. Today, content is being created at unprecedented scale and moves constantly across platforms, formats, devices, and communities. Audiences discover, sample, share, and engage fluidly.

Yet value often stops short. Subscriptions force all-or-nothing decisions. Advertising monetizes attention, not intent. Licensing concentrates upside while leaving much of the ecosystem under-monetized. The result is a widening gap between how content moves - and how it gets paid.

That gap is why closed systems are losing their advantage.

Why Open Wins in 2026

Open markets outperform closed ones for a simple reason: they allow value to move with demand. Three forces are converging to make 2026 the tipping point

1. Access Is Now the Growth Lever. Audiences no longer want to commit upfront to bundles or platforms. They want choice, flexibility, and relevance. When access is open, discovery increases. Greater discovery leads to deeper engagement - and engagement creates new revenue opportunities.

2. Monetization Is Becoming Moment-Based. Value is no longer created only through long-term contracts. It’s created in moments; views, replays, clips, live events, and shares. Open systems are designed to capture value in these moments in real time, while closed systems are not.

3. Control Has Been Redefined. Control is no longer about limiting where content can go. It’s about setting the rules: pricing, rights, and access - while allowing content to move freely. True control enables growth instead of constraining it, creating shared value for content owners, publishers, and audiences alike.

For rights holders and content owners, the long-standing belief has been that protecting value requires tightly controlling access. In an increasingly fluid content environment, that approach is proving limiting. As people move freely across devices and platforms, distribution moves with them. It no longer lives in a single channel. Distribution can come from anyone and anywhere – from talent and influencers to publishers, brand-owned platforms, or a single link shared via SMS or push notification.

Open markets allow content owners to meet audiences wherever discovery happens, while still maintaining control overpricing, rights, and access. When value moves alongside content, captured transparently and in real time, reach stops being a risk and becomes an asset. In open systems, content doesn’t lose value as it travels; it compounds.

For publishers, openness is often misunderstood as a threat to established business models. In practice, it functions as an expansion layer. As audience behavior fragments across platforms and formats, relying solely on advertising or subscriptions leaves meaningful value untapped. Open systems enable publishers to monetize engagement and intent in moments traditional models overlook, without disrupting what already works. The publishers best positioned for growth in 2026 won’t treat openness as a replacement for closed models, but as a strategic complement - one that extends revenue opportunities, strengthens resilience, and aligns monetization with how audiences actually engage.

Audiences, meanwhile, have been signaling this shift for years. They increasingly favor flexibility over commitment, relevance over bundles, and access without friction. Open systems reflect these preferences by allowing people to engage with content on their own terms, supporting or purchasing what they value, when they value it, without unnecessary barriers. This alignment between access and agency builds trust, encourages discovery, and deepens engagement. When audiences are empowered rather than constrained, the entire content ecosystem becomes more economically sustainable.

The next chapter of the content economy won’t be defined by tighter controls or higher walls. It will be defined by systems that allow content to move freely, while ensuring value moves with it. Open markets reward access, transparency, and participation, aligning incentives across content owners, creators, publishers, brands, and audiences alike.

Open isn’t a risk anymore. It’s the advantage.

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