Investing in Media Stocks

Media companies produce and distribute films, television series, music, books, news, and radio programming. The public is consuming more and more of their offerings every year. The proliferation of mobile devices and digital media organizations has greatly increased screen time over the past decade, and the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated the trend. The average American now spends more than 13 hours per day consuming or interacting with some form of media as the use of connected TV and mobile devices continues to grow.

Companies with a strong foothold in digital media keep expanding their consumer engagement, while legacy businesses that rely heavily on older media formats are struggling. As a result, the industry has experienced a lot of mergers and acquisitions over the past few years. The bulk of the industry’s power is now consolidated in just a handful of companies, including Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD), and Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PSKY).

Companies that specialize only in media are under increasing pressure to offer direct-to-consumer (DTC) services, such as Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX). Even radio producers have turned to podcasts to capitalize on the shift to on-demand media consumption.

Warner Bros. Discovery is one of the biggest pure-play television media companies in the market. It is the result of a merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia, and it has a sweeping portfolio of cable networks reaching a broad range of demographics. It’s also the home of Warner Bros. studios, which creates film and television productions, DC Comics, and HBO.

• Strong brands like HBO, HGTV, and Discovery, combined with its massive scale and content portfolio, make it competitive in the current media landscape.
• The linear TV business is losing subscribers and advertising dollars, which is made up for by growing streaming revenue and profitability.
• The company allowed its contract with the NBA to broadcast regular season and post-season games lapse starting in 2025. That will result in a drop in advertising revenue and possibly subscribers.

Netflix is the largest direct-to-consumer video service in the world. It began buying first-run rights for original series in 2012 and has been profiting from its growing offerings of original series and films ever since. Its massive scale provides the company with data that it uses to inform content licensing and production decisions and improve the user experience.

• After years of burning cash on content spend, it's now producing billions in free cash flow every quarter thanks to its scale.
• It added an ad-supported tier in 2022, which has enabled it to branch out into more live programming, including sports.
• A crackdown on password sharing and its lower-priced ad-supported tier have supported continued subscriber growth over the last few years.

Walt Disney is one of the biggest media companies in the world, especially after acquiring most of 21st Century Fox. It has a very strong portfolio of intellectual property, including Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and its many classic Disney brands. It also owns the Disney and ESPN television brands. ESPN has long-term contracts to broadcast premium sporting events, including Monday Night Football.

• Disney is consolidating its streaming options. It plans to merge Hulu and Disney+ while offering a standalone ESPN streaming service that includes its linear programming and ESPN+ content.
• Disney holds an unparalleled collection of intellectual property that fuels a long runway of predictably successful content across film and television.
• Disney's parks and entertainment business offers a strong profit engine supporting the media business.

Paramount Skydance benefits from operating one of only four broadcast networks in the U.S. Its market position ensures broad distribution and large audiences. Its cable networks, which include BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Showtime, are well diversified across audience demographics, and it’s also the owner of its namesake film and television studios.

• The company is the result of a merger between CBS and Viacom in 2021, which then merged with Skydance in 2025.
• Its premium streaming service, Paramount+, bought exclusive rights to UFC starting in 2026 in an effort to compete with other streaming services offering live sports. Paramount+ also simulcasts NFL games with Paramount Skydance's CBS broadcasts.
• CBS is a leader in prime-time and late-night programming. Its television studio also offers additional content licensing opportunities.

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