13 Anonymous Media Executives Make Predictions for the New Year

Ho, ho, ho! It’s a Holiday Tradition: Anonymous Media Executives Make Their 2025 Industry Predictions

In honor of the 12 Days of Christmas, we bring you 12 predictions from the world’s most powerful media and entertainment executives, speaking on condition of anonymity to talk candidly about their visions for the coming year. can do And then, because we have holiday cheer, we give you a bonus. A baker’s dozen!

Looking back. Predictions for 2024they were not as good as previous years. But some were successful, or partial hits.

While of Warner Bros. Discovery at most, Netflix And Disney Not all teamed up for the first major streaming bundle, as one contributor predicted last year. Max and Disney join forces. TV Broadcast Station Groups Continued to lift Regional sports rights, as expected by another executive. Redbird Capital didn’t quite get it. Paramount GlobalBut the private equity firm was part of a consortium with Skydance. Announced the merger. With the company in July.

As for other 2024 predictions, Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasullo Did not win his activist campaign to join the Disney board; Disney CEO Bob Iger did not renew his contract beyond 2026, buy Kendall Media or name Dana Walden as his successor. And NBA media rights did not go to Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and others. apple – He Disney, NBC Universal and Amazon.

Oh, and one more miss: while Comcast announced the spin-off of most of its cable networks, it did not spin off NBCUniversal and it was acquired by Warner Bros. Not integrated with Discovery.

Here’s a good rundown of this year’s predictions:

Executive 1: Comcast Warner Bros. will acquire Discovery’s studio and streaming assets and merge them with NBCUniversal.

Second time is the charm! Warner Bros. Discovery falling apart Its linear assets from the rest of the company. Comcast Hanging out Most of its cable networks. That means something, right?

Executive 2: Comcast will acquire Charter and liquidate the remainder of NBCUniversal

That’s right, Comcast can have SpinCo 1 and SpinCo 2! The executive predicted that Comcast would test Donald Trump’s regulatory administration and try to merge the two largest U.S. cable companies after 10 years. Leaving his bid to buy Time Warner Cable — which used to be the second-largest U.S. cable provider before it was acquired by Charter — after concluding that the government would block the deal.

Executive 3: Fox will acquire most of Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets

After selling the majority of its entertainment assets to Disney In 2019, Fox According to this executive, HBO will once again shock the media world by acquiring the streaming assets of the movie studio, Turner Networks and Warner Bros. Discovery.

For what it’s worth, another executive predicted that Fox would sell, given Unknown future of the Murdoch Family Trust.

Executive 4: Dana Walden will leave Disney at the end of the year after she doesn’t get the CEO job.

Disney has already said it plans to delay naming a new CEO until as early as 2026, so this prediction assumes the company will push the announcement forward a bit. Walden, Disney Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainmentis the ultimate Hollywood insider who many See as a front runner For the job, the board is taking its time in vetting candidates after the handoff from Iger to Bob Chapek in 2020. Didn’t go very well.

Another executive suggested that Donna Langley, chairman of NBC Universal Entertainment and Studios, would be considered a challenge to Walden and other internal candidates for the job.

Executive 5: Jeff Bezos will be bullied into selling The Washington Post after President Trump makes clear his space company, Blue Origin, will suffer the loss of his paper’s coverage.

Bezos has said he is committed to the future of the Post, but the paper has been. Engaged in drama This year, perhaps 2025, is the year Bezos decides he’s had enough extra headaches.

Executive 6: Several TV station groups will be sold out of financial difficulties.

Companies like EW Scripps, Tegna And Sinclair Broadcast Their shares have seen a decline in recent years as traditional pay-TV prices have fallen to the bone. Executives at these companies hope the new Trump administration will pave the way for further consolidation. This executive anticipates that many will sell out of desperation to avoid bankruptcy or to achieve the desired scale.

Executive 7: The Trump administration loosened rules on TV station ownership, resulting in CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox buying their own affiliates.

A similar thought was the last thought, but the executive took the bold step of saying that the acquirers of the stations would be the broadcast networks themselves.

Executive 8: Paramount Global will acquire Lionsgate when it spins off Starz.

If Paramount Global gets the Govt. to merge with Skydance Media Next year, its new leadership will likely look to transform the business. A big move by the company is to get it. Lions Gate Then the studio Away from the stars. At the beginning of next year, this executive said.

Executive 9: A major tech company will acquire video game maker Electronic Arts.

After flirting with both Comcast and Disney over the years, Electronic Arts Will sell to a major tech company in 2025. Netflix, AlphabetApple or Amazon, this executive said. Will follow in his footsteps. Microsoft Achieving activation in 2023.

Executive 10: M&A hype around the industry will be overwhelming, and there will be fewer deals than one might think.

You are all wrong! This executive said that M&A forecasts will generally not be accurate because consolidation will not provide any real transition reforms to an industry.

Executive 11: Paramount+, Peacock and Max bundled together.

Paramount Global, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery executives have been on record about the need to consider streaming consolidation options. What if there is a bundle that includes all three services? The executive anticipates that all three services will be sold together, either through a hard bundle on one platform or together at a discount.

Executive 12: Sports streaming service Vino will never launch, and Fox will license its sports content to ESPN’s streaming service.

Venu, Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. A joint venture owned by Discovery, It was announced with great fanfare. earlier this year. But the antitrust case Filed by Fubo is Stopped starting the service. Meanwhile, ESPN will launch its “flagship” streaming service by the fall of 2025. This will cause companies to abandon Vino, this executive predicted.

Executive 13: Kathy Kennedy to leave Lucasfilm

Kennedy was president. Disney’s Lucasfilm Since 2012 and is now in the 70s. It may be time for a new leader in the Star Wars franchise.

May the force be with you. Let’s see what 2025 brings. Happy Holidays!

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.