Paramount-WBD Deal is Approved, Now For the Hard Part

Fox’s acquisition of Roku has closed, and with Tubi reporting strong results, the importance of free content is moving to center stage. Even Disney is poised to jump in.

YouTube’s TV share jumped to 15.8% in August, nearly as much as all of broadcast TV combined. Plus, Peacock subscriber growth has stalled, and Disney’s Super Bowl will be everywhere.

Research from Bango shows short-form’s increasing importance. YouTube’s ecosystem continues to expand and to influence traditional media. And Netflix cuts headcount.

Merging or bundling streaming services, job cuts, and film profitability are some of the big questions swirling around Skydance. Disney and Netflix’s smart new partnership. And the Emmys go to Amazon.

Netflix seems to have lost the script for how to reaccelerate growth, as became clear in an interview this week with Co-CEO Ted Sarandos at Bloomberg Screentime. You can hear the full Bloomberg interview here. 

California’s Rob Bonta and 11 other Attorneys General signed a consent decree clearing the way for Paramount Skydance to acquire WBD. Now the hard part starts for David Ellison.

Amazon is making all the right moves in streaming by launching a new SVOD bundle, investing in sports to drive Prime, pushing into video podcasts, short-form, commerce video, and more.

Ampere Analysis’s Rahul Patel joins us exclusively to discuss his new research detailing why launching a free ad-supported tier is a huge untapped opportunity for SVOD providers.

Lots of new streaming dynamics unfolded this summer, including YouTube’s growing dominance and Netflix rivalry, YouTube creators’ box-office smashes, the Paramount-WBD drama, and much more. We dig into all.

Ampere Analysis research reveals the widening price gap between SVOD services’ ad-free and ad-supported tiers. But is there a limit? Meanwhile, more evidence of YouTube’s dominance.