Television

Comcast boss rides Disney’s streaming coattails

14 May 2019

Brian Roberts will hand over Hulu, but not yet. The NBC owner has the option to sell its minority stake to the Mouse House in five years for at least $5.8 bln but potentially far more if Hulu succeeds. Having lost Fox to Disney, Roberts has found another way to make Bob Iger pay.

Disney sports deal is small fumble in long game

6 May 2019

The Magic Kingdom sold some regional networks to Sinclair for $10.6 bln – much less than what was expected. But Disney completes a necessary task to clear its $71 bln deal for bits of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox. The launch of streaming services, with Fox content, is the greater prize.

Viewsroom: ‘Game of Thrones’-style war heads to TV

18 April 2019

HBO’s hit series is ending as parent AT&T, Amazon, Apple and Walt Disney launch their claims to the streaming-video crown. Netflix, though, will be hard to usurp. Elsewhere, India’s weeks-long election gets underway. And global economic growth collides with nationalism’s rise.

Netflix shows the high price of A-list status

16 April 2019

The video-streaming service boosted its subscribers by a quarter in the last three months even though it raised prices. It’s now valued at 70 pct more per user than rival Hulu, in which Disney just raised its stake. Netflix’s success isn’t impossible to copy – just very expensive.

‘Game of Thrones’ will end with an HBO cliffhanger

15 April 2019

The fantasy TV series entered its final season on Sunday, meaning its broadcaster will soon have a dragon-shaped hole to fill. HBO has weathered successful finales before. This time it’s under new ownership, and cash-rich rivals are paying up to claim the industry’s iron throne.

Mickey Mouse throws down a tiny white glove

12 April 2019

Disney's flagship video-streaming product will cost users less than Netflix, boss Bob Iger says. That’s aggressive. Even if the Magic Kingdom has the brand and content to attract millions, competitors will swing hard. Meanwhile Iger may not stick around to see the results.

ProSieben’s battered shares transmit M&A signal

7 March 2019

The German broadcaster is valued at a discount of almost 30 pct to rivals despite generating decent cash flows. Italy’s Mediaset talks of creating a pan-European media giant, but there are few synergies. Cash-rich private equity might be more tempted given the breakup potential.

AT&T uncovers hidden costs of media deals

1 March 2019

HBO boss Richard Plepler is leaving not even a year after the telco acquired parent Time Warner for $85 bln. The “Game of Thrones” network is a jewel and Plepler is a talent magnet. People can be replaced. It just makes an expensive deal even more so.

Viacom zigs as wannabe Netflix peers zag

23 January 2019

The MTV owner is buying a free streaming-TV service for $340 mln. That’s chump change compared with the $180 bln Disney, AT&T and Comcast have collectively spent on media deals to keep pace with Reed Hastings’s firm. Low-budget Viacom is wisely choosing a less-traveled path.

AT&T fails to grasp the true value of “Friends”

5 December 2018

It may let Netflix keep the TV show for around $100 mln, more than triple the price last time round. Given AT&T plans to launch its own video service, depriving a rival of a blockbuster could have been smarter. Maybe Time Warner’s new owner isn’t cut out for the media shark-tank

Tribune gets better M&A script in second season

3 December 2018

Nexstar is buying the U.S. media group for $4.1 bln. Tribune recently pulled out of an earlier deal after suitor Sinclair irked U.S. regulators. This go-around looks like a stronger plot. The price is higher, the buyer’s record is strong and there’s a clean sheet with watchdogs.

Review: New tech brings golden age of media

16 November 2018

The internet has provided ample fodder for the endless debate over culture versus commerce. In “Digital Renaissance,” business professor Joel Waldfogel says consumers have more good music, movies and television shows than ever to choose from, and haven’t bankrupted industry.

German TV reset sends blurry signal

8 November 2018

Broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 is slashing dividend payouts to invest more in shows and technology. Such radical moves are necessary – viewers and advertisers are switching over to digital rivals. Yet CEO Max Conze’s plan for hitting ambitious new longer-term targets is fuzzy.

Netflix is online video’s Walmart, and its Tiffany

16 October 2018

CEO Reed Hastings has created a firm that has both the scale of the giant retailer and the pricing power of the luxury jeweler. That’s rare. The trick will be ensuring his $145 bln outfit, which added more subscribers than expected last quarter, can maintain both labels.

Buyout pass-the-parcel hands BC Partners a present

28 September 2018

The investment group is buying a stake in a $3 bln European cable company from KKR. It’s a good deal, thanks to the seller’s desire to cash out. Private equity funds’ limited investment terms mean managers can’t always choose when to sell. Longer-life funds are one solution.

Hulu is next front in Disney-Comcast battle

27 September 2018

Disney made the best call of the Fox-Comcast-Sky saga by consenting to Fox selling its Sky stake at Comcast’s eye-popping price. It plans to invest some of the $15 bln proceeds in Hulu. Comcast, which owns 30 pct of the online-video JV, would be wise to follow suit and let it go.

Comcast $40 bln lunacy gives Disney shot at sanity

24 September 2018

The cable firm paid a crazy price for Sky. The Mouse House is piling on debt to buy Fox assets, including part of the UK pay-TV group. Selling it would allow CEO Bob Iger to reduce Disney’s leverage or add firepower to battle streaming rivals like Netflix. Either is a smart move.

Sky windfall leaves little for Europe’s TV stocks

24 September 2018

Comcast’s $40 billion bid is a bonanza for the UK broadcaster’s shareholders. That trade may have run its course, though. Europe’s remaining media companies are subscale, slower-growing and more likely to lose customers to Sky than attract another deep-pocketed U.S. buyer.

Comcast overreaches for Sky with $40 bln knockout

22 September 2018

The U.S. cable group beat Disney’s Fox in an auction for the UK broadcaster with a bid worth 17.28 pounds per share. CEO Brian Roberts will struggle to justify the offer on any conventional metric. It’s a huge bet on overseas growth for a group that can’t get much larger at home.

Viacom has chance to pitch its own script

10 September 2018

The controlling Redstone family won’t be trying to reunite the media group with sister company CBS any time soon. New leadership, international expansion and an improved movie slate are aiding Viacom’s recovery. At $12 bln it’s cheap, too. It’s a tastier target than CBS.