Media bosses didn’t just get richer in 2025 — they left every other sector in the dust.

A new analysis from proxy advisory firm ISS-Corporate found that CEO pay packages across the S&P 500 rose nearly 11% compared with 2024, but media and entertainment posted a far steeper increase: 117%. That gap turns an already heated debate over executive compensation into a sector-specific flashpoint, especially in an industry that has spent the past few years under pressure from streaming losses, layoffs, cord-cutting, and shifting ad markets.

The report, released Monday, puts fresh attention on how boards reward top executives even as the broader business landscape stays unsettled. Reports indicate ISS-Corporate based its findings on compensation packages tied to the latest proxy cycle. The headline number matters because it suggests media companies didn’t merely follow the market higher — they dramatically reset the ceiling for what top leadership can collect.

The striking number in the ISS-Corporate analysis is not that CEO pay rose — it’s that media and entertainment surged so far beyond the rest of the S&P 500.

Key Facts

  • ISS-Corporate found S&P 500 CEO pay packages rose nearly 11% in 2025 versus 2024.
  • Media and entertainment led all sectors with a 117% increase.
  • The findings came in an analysis released Monday by proxy advisory firm ISS-Corporate.
  • The report highlights a sharp gap between media compensation trends and the broader market.

The timing gives the data extra force. Investors, employees, and viewers have watched media companies slash costs and search for new growth at the same time. Against that backdrop, a triple-digit jump in CEO compensation invites tougher questions about board priorities, performance benchmarks, and how companies define success during a volatile stretch for the business. Even without every pay package detail in view, the scale of the increase alone will likely drive scrutiny.

What comes next will matter well beyond one executive or one company. Shareholders may press harder on pay votes, boards may face sharper public pressure, and compensation committees could find themselves forced to explain why media stood so far apart from the rest of corporate America. If this report marks the start of a broader reckoning, the real story won’t be the size of one payday — it will be whether the industry can justify this new pay era in public.