Top 20 Media Consulting Firms

As an experienced market research head, I can attest that the media and entertainment industry is in a perpetual state of flux. From the rise of streaming wars to the disruption of the advertising ecosystem by AI and privacy shifts, media companies face unprecedented strategic challenges. Selecting the right consulting partner is not just about bringing in external expertise; it’s about securing a visionary guide to navigate digital transformation, content monetization, and organizational redesign.

This curated list of the top 20 media consulting firms offers a deep dive into the industry’s most influential partners. These vendors, ranging from global strategy behemoths to specialized TMT (Technology, Media, and Telecommunications) boutiques, provide the intellectual firepower and execution capability required to thrive in the next decade. This analysis is designed to give you high-quality, actionable insights, positioning it as an authoritative resource for industry leaders and those seeking to understand the competitive landscape.

1. McKinsey & Company

• Founders: James O. McKinsey
• Founded Year: 1926
• Headquarters: New York, New York, USA
• Product Categories: Strategy, Digital Transformation, Organizational Change, Corporate Finance, M&A
• Description: McKinsey & Company is arguably the most prestigious global management consulting firm. Their Media & Entertainment Practice advises the world’s leading companies, governments, and institutions on complex strategic, operational, and organizational challenges. They are pioneers in management theory, offering cutting-edge insights on everything from content strategy and direct-to-consumer (DTC) models to harnessing advanced analytics and AI for revenue growth. Their influence extends across traditional media, digital platforms, and the burgeoning gaming sector, making them a benchmark for high-impact advisory work.
• Key Features:
  • Unparalleled Prestige: Consistently ranked as the world’s most prestigious consulting brand.
  • Deep Functional Expertise: Extensive capabilities in advanced analytics, digital marketing, and transformation.
  • Global Reach and Network: Operates in over 130 cities, providing a truly global perspective on market trends.
  • Proprietary Research: Generates influential thought leadership pieces, including the renowned McKinsey Quarterly.
  • Focus on C-Suite Strategy: Highly trusted by CEOs and boards for mission-critical, high-stakes decisions.
  • Pioneering New Operating Models: Known for designing and implementing radical organizational redesigns for media clients.

2. Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

• Founders: Bruce Henderson
• Founded Year: 1963
• Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Product Categories: Strategy, Corporate Development, Marketing & Sales, Technology & Digital, Operations
• Description: BCG is a global leader in strategy consulting, celebrated for its innovative thinking and intellectual culture. Their Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) practice is a powerhouse, focusing on helping media companies secure sustainable competitive advantage amid relentless disruption. BCG is particularly strong in developing compelling customer-centric growth strategies, optimizing content portfolios, and leveraging advanced technology to drive organizational efficiency. They are well-known for their collaborative, bottom-up approach, ensuring solutions are innovative yet deeply rooted in client reality.
• Key Features:
  • Creative Problem-Solving: Known for its innovative and non-consensus approaches to strategy.
  • Thought Leadership: Originator of influential concepts like the Growth-Share Matrix.
  • Digital and Data Focus: Strong capabilities in data monetization, AI-driven personalization, and ad-tech.
  • Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB) for Media: Expertise in cost-restructuring to reinvest in growth areas.
  • Customer-Centric Pricing: Specialists in optimizing pricing and packaging strategies for subscription services.
  • Global Ecosystem: Over 90 offices worldwide, providing localized and global market insights.

3. Bain & Company

• Founders: Bill Bain
• Founded Year: 1973
• Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Product Categories: Strategy, Performance Improvement, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, Digital & Analytics
• Description: Bain & Company, the youngest of the “Big Three” strategy firms, is deeply involved in the Media & Entertainment sector, focusing relentlessly on measurable results and implementation. They are a preferred partner for Private Equity firms in media due diligence and M&A, ensuring high-value deal structuring and post-merger integration. Bain’s approach emphasizes a close partnership with clients, aiming for demonstrable commercial impact in areas like content ROI maximization, accelerating digital transformation, and developing scalable operating models for high-growth media companies.
• Key Features:
  • Results-Oriented Approach: Strong emphasis on measurable outcomes and implementation support.
  • M&A and Private Equity Expertise: Dominant force in media transaction diligence and synergy realization.
  • Content Monetization: Deep expertise in subscription models, advertising, and content rights valuation.
  • Focus on ‘True North’ Value: Helps clients define and execute a strategy that delivers sustainable value.
  • High-Energy, Collaborative Culture: Known for a strong emphasis on team-based problem-solving.
  • Customer Experience (CX) Design: Specializes in optimizing the end-to-end customer journey for media platforms.

4. Deloitte Consulting

• Founders: William Deloitte, George Touche, George Bailey, and more (as part of the Big Four)
• Founded Year: 1845 (Predecessor Company)
• Headquarters: London, UK (Global Network Coordination)
• Product Categories: Strategy (Monitor Deloitte), Technology Implementation, Risk Advisory, Human Capital, M&A
• Description: Deloitte, through its Monitor Deloitte strategy arm and its vast technology and implementation capabilities, is a massive player in the media consulting space. They guide media giants through large-scale digital transformations, focusing on modernizing core technology systems, leveraging AI for personalized content delivery, and navigating complex regulatory and cybersecurity challenges. Their depth allows them to handle projects from high-level corporate strategy down to the intricate technical implementation, offering an end-to-end solution that few others can match.
• Key Features:
  • Full-Spectrum Service: Offers services from strategy (Monitor Deloitte) to technology implementation.
  • Cyber and Risk Management: Critical expertise in media-specific cybersecurity and data privacy compliance.
  • Global Technology Integration: Strong capabilities in implementing large-scale ERP, cloud, and digital platforms.
  • Extensive Industry Relationships: Deep ties across the entire media ecosystem, including telecom and ad-tech.
  • Human Capital Management: Helps media companies redesign organizational structures to attract digital talent.

5. PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

• Founders: Samuel Lowell Price, Edwin Waterhouse, William Cooper, and more (as part of the Big Four)
• Founded Year: 1849 (Predecessor Company)
• Headquarters: London, UK (Global Network Coordination)
• Product Categories: Strategy, Deals, Tax, Assurance, Technology Consulting
• Description: PwC’s Consulting practice, often working in tandem with its M&A and Deals team, is a crucial advisor to the media and entertainment industry. They are renowned for their annual Global Entertainment & Media Outlook, providing critical market intelligence and forecasts. PwC excels in helping clients navigate complex transactions, manage the financial and operational aspects of digital shifts, and leverage new technologies like blockchain for content rights management. Their global scale and tax/regulatory expertise are invaluable for multinational media conglomerates.
• Key Features:
  • Authoritative Industry Research: Publishes the widely-cited Global Entertainment & Media Outlook.
  • Deals and Transactions: Highly sought after for media M&A, divestitures, and valuation services.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Expertise in international tax, IP rights, and data governance for media.
  • Digital Operating Model Design: Focuses on optimizing the back-office and core operations for digital speed.
  • Blockchain and Emerging Tech: Advising on the application of new technologies for content authenticity and rights.

6. Ernst & Young (EY-Parthenon)

• Founders: Arthur Young and Alwin C. Ernst (as part of the Big Four)
• Founded Year: 1989 (Formation of EY), 1991 (Parthenon Group)
• Headquarters: London, UK (Global Network Coordination)
• Product Categories: Strategy (EY-Parthenon), Technology Consulting, Transaction Advisory, Tax, Assurance
• Description: EY-Parthenon is the strategy arm of EY, bringing a highly specialized, boutique-style focus on corporate and transaction strategy to the media world. They are experts in commercial due diligence, growth strategy, and turnaround management for both legacy and digital media companies. The combination of EY’s vast resources—particularly in technology and tax—with Parthenon’s strategy depth makes them a compelling partner for media clients facing investment decisions or a fundamental business model reinvention.
• Key Features:
  • Strategy and Execution Blend: Combines EY’s scale with Parthenon’s boutique strategy focus.
  • Transaction Strategy: Exceptional in commercial due diligence and strategy-led M&A advisory.
  • Growth and Portfolio Strategy: Helps media companies identify and capitalize on new market opportunities.
  • Turnaround and Restructuring: Strong capabilities in financial and operational restructuring for distressed assets.
  • Data and Analytics: Leverages advanced analytics to drive strategic insight and predict market shifts.

7. Accenture

• Founders: Clarence DeLany, as a part of Arthur Andersen
• Founded Year: 1989 (Separated from Arthur Andersen as Andersen Consulting)
• Headquarters: Dublin, Ireland
• Product Categories: Strategy & Consulting, Song (Creative/Marketing), Technology, Operations, Security
• Description: Accenture is a global professional services behemoth with leading capabilities in digital, cloud, and security. Their Communications, Media & Technology (CMT) industry group is massive, focusing less on pure corporate strategy (which they also offer) and more on end-to-end digital transformation, technology implementation, and marketing services (via Accenture Song). For media clients, they are the go-to firm for migrating to the cloud, building next-generation advertising platforms, and driving personalized customer engagement at scale.
• Key Features:
  • End-to-End Digital Transformation: Executes large-scale technology and business process transformation.
  • Accenture Song (Creative/Marketing): Blends strategic consulting with creative, marketing, and experience design.
  • Cloud Migration for Media: Expertise in moving media distribution and production workflows to the cloud.
  • Advanced Ad-Tech Solutions: Helps publishers and broadcasters build and monetize programmatic and data-driven advertising solutions.
  • Global Scale and Delivery: Unmatched capability to execute globally, often leveraging large, distributed teams.

8. Altman Solon

• Founders: Rory J. Altman and Steve Solon (formed after the merger of Altman and Solon Consulting)
• Founded Year: 2002 (Solon), 2009 (Altman), 2020 (Merged to Altman Solon)
• Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Product Categories: Strategy Consulting exclusively for Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT)
• Description: Altman Solon is the world’s largest strategy consulting firm exclusively focused on the TMT sector. This deep, uncompromised specialization gives them sharper insight into the unique challenges of media—from evolving audience consumption patterns to complex content rights valuations. They are a pure-play strategy house, advising on growth strategy, go-to-market design, and crucial M&A transaction support across all media verticals, including broadcasting, publishing, and the rapidly growing video game industry.
• Key Features:
  • TMT-Exclusive Focus: Largest global strategy firm dedicated solely to Technology, Media, and Telecom.
  • Deep Media Specialization: Expertise spans broadcasting, publishing, gaming, and digital platforms.
  • Data-Driven Strategies: Utilizes proprietary research and targeted third-party insights for strategies.
  • Subscription & DTC Expertise: Advising on optimal pricing, packaging, and churn management for direct-to-consumer models.
  • Media Rights Valuation: A leader in creating high-impact strategies for content rights negotiation and packaging.

9. A.T. Kearney (Kearney)

• Founders: Andrew Thomas Kearney
• Founded Year: 1926
• Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Product Categories: Strategy, Operations, Transformation, Digital & Analytics
• Description: Kearney, formerly A.T. Kearney, is a global management consulting firm recognized for its expertise in strategic operations and high-impact transformations. While a generalist firm, its TMT practice has a long history of helping media organizations with large operational challenges, such as optimizing content supply chains, managing procurement in a cloud-first world, and driving cost reduction programs. They are particularly strong in bridging the gap between high-level strategy and practical, on-the-ground execution.
• Key Features:
  • Strategic Operations Expertise: Known for translating strategy into operational excellence and tangible savings.
  • Transformation Focus: Deep experience in large-scale, multi-year business transformations.
  • Supply Chain Optimization: Helps media companies optimize content creation and distribution supply chains.
  • Global Footprint: Works with a high percentage of the Fortune Global 500 across multiple sectors.
  • Cultural Focus on Collaboration: Known for working closely with client teams to build internal capabilities.

10. AlixPartners

• Founders: Jay Alix
• Founded Year: 1981
• Headquarters: New York, New York, USA
• Product Categories: Performance Improvement, Turnaround & Restructuring, Digital, Financial Advisory, Litigation Support
• Description: AlixPartners is a different kind of partner, specializing in urgent, high-impact transformations and turnarounds. Their TMT practice is sought after when conventional approaches are failing or when speed is paramount, such as pre-acquisition rapid due diligence, post-merger integration challenges, or fundamental business model pivots for legacy media. They are hands-on, action-oriented, and focused on driving accelerated performance improvement in areas like revenue growth, CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) improvement, and operational agility.
• Key Features:
  • Action-Oriented Transformation: Known for rapid, high-impact change and performance improvement.
  • Restructuring and Turnaround: Specialists in helping distressed media assets achieve financial stability and reinvention.
  • Digital Advertising/Ad-Tech: Expertise in advising publishers and ad-tech vendors on performance optimization.
  • QuickStrike® Assessment: Proprietary rapid assessment methodology for identifying and executing value creation levers.
  • Due Diligence and Carve-Outs: Strong capability in supporting complex, accelerated transaction cycles.

11. OC&C Strategy Consultants

• Founders: Chris Outram and Terry Clark
• Founded Year: 1987
• Headquarters: London, UK
• Product Categories: Pure Strategy Consulting (Corporate Strategy, M&A, Commercial Due Diligence)
• Description: OC&C is a global strategy boutique with a strong “challenger” mentality, offering deep expertise in a few select industries, with Media and Technology being a core focus. They pride themselves on providing simple, uncommon-sense solutions to complex business challenges, often working with leading Private Equity firms. Their media practice focuses on content strategy, identifying international expansion opportunities, and developing defensible positioning for new digital ventures, avoiding generic advice for tailored strategic insights.
• Key Features:
  • Pure-Play Strategy Boutique: Focused exclusively on strategy, without implementation services.
  • “Challenger” Mentality: Known for unconventional, high-impact strategic recommendations.
  • Media and Retail/Consumer Focus: Deep cross-industry insights applicable to consumer-facing media.
  • International Expansion Strategy: Helps media companies successfully enter and scale in new global markets.
  • Flat Structure: Ensures senior partners are heavily involved in project delivery, offering high-quality oversight.

12. Simon-Kucher & Partners

• Founders: Hermann Simon, Eckhard Kucher
• Founded Year: 1985
• Headquarters: Bonn, Germany
• Product Categories: Pricing, Sales, and Marketing Strategy
• Description: Simon-Kucher is a global consulting firm with a unique focus: maximizing revenue and profit through better pricing, sales, and marketing strategies. For the media sector, this is incredibly critical in the “subscription economy” and the highly fragmented digital advertising space. They help media clients design optimal paywall strategies, structure complex advertising rate cards, and use behavioral science to increase conversion and retention rates for their digital products. Their data-driven approach often results in rapid, measurable commercial growth.
• Key Features:
  • Global Leader in Pricing: Deep specialization in monetization, often called the “world’s leading pricing consultancy.”
  • Subscription Model Optimization: Designs optimal pricing, bundling, and tiering for OTT and publishing services.
  • Behavioral Economics: Applies psychological principles to marketing and sales to drive conversion.
  • Advertising Pricing Strategy: Helps publishers maximize yield across digital and linear platforms.
  • Sales Channel Effectiveness: Optimizes sales force structure and incentives to align with growth strategy.

13. Oliver Wyman

• Founders: Alex Oliver and Bob Wyman
• Founded Year: 1984
• Headquarters: New York, New York, USA
• Product Categories: Strategy, Risk Management, Operations, Organization
• Description: Oliver Wyman is a fast-growing strategy consulting firm that, while historically strong in financial services, has built a formidable Communications, Media, and Technology practice. They advise media clients on complex organizational and operational challenges, often with a focus on risk management and large-scale transformation required by regulatory changes or market volatility. Their approach is analytical and collaborative, helping clients master the strategic, financial, and people challenges of navigating disruption.
• Key Features:
  • Integrated Strategy and Risk: Combines core strategy with a strong understanding of financial and operational risk.
  • Organizational Transformation: Designs future-ready operating models and talent strategies for media companies.
  • High-End Analytical Approach: Utilizes rigorous data analysis to support strategic decision-making.
  • Global Financial Services Link: Provides unique insights into media financing, private equity, and investment trends.

14. Egon Zehnder

• Founders: Egon Zehnder
• Founded Year: 1964
• Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland
• Product Categories: Executive Search Consulting, Leadership Strategy, Board Advisory, Organizational Development
• Description: While not a traditional management consulting firm, Egon Zehnder’s Media & Entertainment Executive Search and Leadership Practice is highly influential. They are the trusted advisor to founders, CEOs, and boards on securing the leadership talent required for successful transformations. In a media world defined by disruption, having the right leadership—especially in digital and data roles—is a strategic imperative, making Egon Zehnder’s advisory work on people, organization, and culture a crucial consulting function.
• Key Features:
  • Media Leadership Specialists: Deep focus on executive search and talent strategy within media.
  • C-Suite and Board Advisory: Trusted partner for CEO succession, board recruitment, and governance.
  • Leadership Assessment: Proprietary methods for evaluating and developing next-generation media leaders.
  • Organizational Culture: Advising on culture transformation to support digital and agile operating models.

15. Roland Berger

• Founders: Roland Berger
• Founded Year: 1967
• Headquarters: Munich, Germany
• Product Categories: Strategy, Performance, Transaction, Digital
• Description: As the only consulting firm of European origin with a major international presence, Roland Berger offers a strong, distinctive voice in global strategy. Their Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) competence center focuses on helping media clients with growth strategy, new business model creation, and performance improvement across the value chain. They are known for their entrepreneurial spirit and for embracing challenging mandates that require fundamental business reorientation and a fresh, European-centric perspective.
• Key Features:
  • European Heritage/Global Reach: Provides a unique cultural and market perspective.
  • Entrepreneurial Approach: Known for developing and launching entirely new business models for clients.
  • Performance Improvement: Strong capabilities in operational efficiency and cost optimization.
  • Digital Innovation: Advising on the strategic implementation of emerging technologies like 5G and IoT in media delivery.

16. L.E.K. Consulting

• Founders: James Lawrence, Iain Evans, and Richard Koch
• Founded Year: 1983
• Headquarters: London, UK
• Product Categories: Strategy, M&A Support, Value Management
• Description: L.E.K. Consulting is a prominent global strategy consulting firm, a staple in the media M&A ecosystem. Their media practice focuses heavily on transaction support (due diligence, pre-deal strategy) and value-based strategy, advising clients on growth acceleration, content portfolio planning, and commercial effectiveness. Their philosophy is rooted in evidence-based decision-making, providing highly analytical and quantitative support to media companies and private equity investors.
• Key Features:
  • Evidence-Based Strategy: Focuses on rigorous, data-driven analysis over opinion.
  • Commercial Due Diligence (CDD): A leading provider of CDD for media and entertainment transactions.
  • Content Portfolio Planning: Advises on which content to create, acquire, or distribute for maximum ROI.
  • Global Footprint: Strong presence in key media markets across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

17. The Business of Fashion (BoF) Insights

• Founders: Imran Amed
• Founded Year: 2007
• Headquarters: London, UK
• Product Categories: Fashion and Luxury Media Strategy, Market Research, B2B Insights
• Description: While primarily known as a leading fashion media title, The Business of Fashion (BoF) has established a highly specialized consulting arm, BoF Insights, which is a key media consulting firm for the fashion, luxury, and adjacent lifestyle media sectors. They leverage their proprietary data and industry access to advise media companies on strategy, market entry, digital monetization, and audience engagement within these high-value niches, offering a unique blend of strategic rigor and industry-specific market intelligence.
• Key Features:
  • Niche Media Specialization: Exclusive focus on fashion, luxury, and lifestyle media markets.
  • Proprietary Data: Leverages exclusive data and surveys from the fashion ecosystem.
  • Trend Forecasting: Advises media clients on future consumer behavior and market shifts in a key demographic.
  • B2B Content Monetization: Helps media and information services companies develop premium B2B products.

18. MediaLink (a UTA Company)

• Founders: Michael E. Kassan
• Founded Year: 2003
• Headquarters: New York, New York, USA
• Product Categories: Media & Marketing Consulting, Event Curation, Strategic Advisory, Partnerships
• Description: MediaLink, now part of United Talent Agency (UTA), is a highly connected and influential firm in the media, marketing, and technology confluence. They operate less like a traditional strategy firm and more like an industry accelerator and deal broker, advising on strategic partnerships, organizational design for media and marketing teams, and connecting buyers and sellers of media properties and advertising technologies. Their unparalleled network is a key feature, making them essential for navigating the political and partnership landscape of the media world.
• Key Features:
  • Network and Connectivity: Unrivaled access to C-suite leaders across media, marketing, and ad-tech.
  • Strategic Deal Brokerage: Advises on major commercial deals, partnerships, and technology adoption.
  • Organizational Design for Agencies/Brands: Helps clients structure their internal media and marketing operations.
  • Influential Industry Events: Known for curating high-impact, networking-focused industry gatherings.

19. Simon-Kucher & Partners

• Founders: Hermann Simon, Eckhard Kucher
• Founded Year: 1985
• Headquarters: Bonn, Germany
• Product Categories: Pricing, Sales, and Marketing Strategy
• Description: Simon-Kucher is a global consulting firm with a unique focus: maximizing revenue and profit through better pricing, sales, and marketing strategies. For the media sector, this is incredibly critical in the “subscription economy” and the highly fragmented digital advertising space. They help media clients design optimal paywall strategies, structure complex advertising rate cards, and use behavioral science to increase conversion and retention rates for their digital products. Their data-driven approach often results in rapid, measurable commercial growth.
• Key Features:
  • Global Leader in Pricing: Deep specialization in monetization, often called the “world’s leading pricing consultancy.”
  • Subscription Model Optimization: Designs optimal pricing, bundling, and tiering for OTT and publishing services.
  • Behavioral Economics: Applies psychological principles to marketing and sales to drive conversion.
  • Advertising Pricing Strategy: Helps publishers maximize yield across digital and linear platforms.
  • Sales Channel Effectiveness: Optimizes sales force structure and incentives to align with growth strategy.

20. FTI Consulting

• Founders: Daniel M. Lucier
• Founded Year: 1982
• Headquarters: Washington, D.C., USA
• Product Categories: Corporate Finance, Strategic Communications, Technology, Economic Consulting
• Description: FTI Consulting, through its Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) practice, offers a unique blend of strategic, financial, and regulatory expertise. They are often brought in for high-stakes, crisis-driven mandates, such as litigation support, complex regulatory inquiries, and distressed M&A. For media clients, they provide critical support in areas like valuation of content IP, strategic communications during a crisis, and leveraging forensic technology for complex data investigations, often acting as a partner for non-traditional, but highly important, consulting needs.
• Key Features:
  • Crisis and Litigation Support: Expertise in strategic communications and data forensics during high-profile events.
  • Content IP Valuation: Provides independent, expert valuation of intangible media assets like content libraries.
  • Regulatory and Economic Analysis: Advises on the competitive and economic impact of policy and regulatory shifts.
  • Distressed M&A: Strong capabilities in corporate finance and restructuring for challenging deals.

Conclusion: The Strategic Imperative for Media Leaders

The media landscape of today demands more than just incremental improvement; it requires radical strategic reinvention. The top-tier consulting firms profiled here are not merely advisors; they are critical partners in securing future relevance and commercial success. From the strategic brilliance of McKinsey, BCG, and Bain to the TMT specialization of Altman Solon and the implementation firepower of Accenture and Deloitte, the choice of firm should align precisely with the urgency and nature of your challenge.

The firms dominating this list possess three common traits that drive their high ranking: deep digital fluency, a global perspective on content and consumption, and a data-centric approach to monetization. For any media executive looking to rank their company on Google and in the market, leveraging the insights and capabilities of these top 20 is not a luxury—it is the strategic imperative for outperforming the competition in this new era of media consumption.