Television

Baby Yoda makes life harder for NBC and HBO

4 February 2020

The buzz around the new Star Wars character helped Disney end the year with 27 mln paying subscribers on its streaming service, beating analysts’ estimates. That’s 16% of Netflix customers. Their two TV rivals, which have yet to launch a product, may struggle to compete.

Netflix investors risk ruing streaming-stock binge

21 January 2020

Reed Hastings’ firm has little if any need for TV ratings, box-office sales or ads, unlike rivals. Shareholders focus on subscriber and revenue growth, fueling its stock-market success. But a slowdown in new users and an excessive, if declining, cash burn put that under threat.

Peak subscription economy approaches in 2020

23 December 2019

It’s not just streaming services from Disney and Apple that are competing for steadily paying subscribers. Online banks, wine sellers and even furniture retailers want them, too. Buyers can only spend and consume so much, though. For many vendors, the summit will be beyond reach.

Disney will lose its magic touch

19 December 2019

The media giant’s valuation has soared on high hopes for its Netflix-like streaming service Disney+. While rivals have struggled, boss Bob Iger has seldom put a foot wrong. Expectations are now so high that meeting them will take a different sort of sorcery.

Bolloré nears rare draw in messy Italian campaign

29 November 2019

Vivendi is to sell 20% of Mediaset, part of a broad truce with the Berlusconi-controlled broadcaster. The deal ends a wasteful legal row with little financial damage for Vivendi’s top investor Vincent Bolloré. Yet his larger Telecom Italia investment is still deep under water.

Disney streaming service has plus for Netflix too

31 October 2019

Others are also going live, but with a low price and a vault of content Disney+ will be Netflix’s toughest rival. There’s a benefit for CEO Reed Hastings, though: Being lumped together with the Magic Kingdom makes his firm look less like a tech giant in need of regulation.

The Exchange: PBS CEO Paula Kerger

28 October 2019

Streaming is upending the media landscape, including public television. Its funding model, local structure and social mandate make broadcaster PBS unlike any other U.S outlet. Its longest-serving boss, Paula Kerger, discusses the challenges and possibilities of the new era.

Viacom-CBS is the Rip Van Winkle of TV

14 August 2019

The two firms split 13 years ago to extract value and boost growth. That plan failed, while peers got larger like Disney, or sold like Fox. A reunited Viacom and CBS can best shake off its slumber by amassing a portfolio of great shows to sell to more established video streamers.

CBS-Viacom merger is more whimper than Big Bang

13 August 2019

The broadcaster and the MTV owner, both controlled by the Redstone family, have finally inked a $30 bln reunion. Rogue CEOs, supine boards and dumb disputes gummed up the process. Hefty synergies won’t make up for perhaps more than $15 bln of value lost in three years of limbo.

European TV M&A belongs on the cutting-room floor

7 August 2019

Broadcasters like Italy’s $3.5 bln Mediaset are pushing for cross-border deals as the sector loses viewers to Netflix and advertisers to Google and Facebook. M&A is not the answer: most TV costs are local, meaning few savings, while the added complexity may be counterproductive.

Disney, Netflix similarities diverge at ambition

6 August 2019

The Magic Kingdom’s stock is near an all-time high as the $250 bln media firm readies its streaming video service. Disney has the content and brand to be a strong Netflix rival as their paths converge. But unlike Reed Hastings’ company, cord cutters will test investor patience.

Disney movie mojo is tight squeeze on small screen

22 July 2019

The $250 bln media giant’s “Avengers: Endgame” is now the No. 1 grossing film in the world. The Mouse House is home to another six of the top 10 movies, too, thanks to boss Bob Iger’s savvy deals. Transferring the magic to its forthcoming video-streaming services may be hard.

Netflix runs into an age-old Hollywood problem

17 July 2019

The $159 bln video-streaming service added fewer subscribers than forecast. A price hike played a part, but Netflix also blamed a less appealing line-up of shows. Predicting hits and flops has long flummoxed Tinseltown. The ensuing lumpy results are now in Netflix’s script, too.

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.