Television

Netflix gets the last laugh in HBO “Friends” deal

10 July 2019

WarnerMedia’s new video service HBO Max will exclusively air the comedy series for a mooted $425 mln – snatching it back from its online rival. A blow to Netflix? Not quite. The streaming giant has effectively made sure the next buyer has to shell out a high price to win it back.

Offloading Univision

9 July 2019

The Spanish-language broadcaster is up for sale. Will the buyers in the stretched 2007 leveraged buyout even recoup their original $4 bln investment?

Univision owners may be in for a downer ending

9 July 2019

Backers TPG, Saban Capital and others are looking to sell the Spanish-language broadcaster. The $14 bln buyout may have seemed sound 12 years ago. But after a failed IPO, questionable digital moves and a brutal TV environment, the investors could get back less than they put in.

Timing may at last be right for CBS-Viacom reunion

30 May 2019

The U.S. media groups are again talking about recombining after two failed attempts. The logic of the possible $29 bln merger has changed little. But with CBS under new management and Viacom neither thriving nor floundering, conflicting egos and valuations are no longer problems.

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.