Warner Bros. Discovery management says its separate global networks and streaming and studios businesses could take part in merger and acquisition deals as soon as the WBD restructuring is complete, Deutsche Bank's Bryan Kraft wrote investors Monday. However, he said, consolidation in the media and entertainment industry will likely be a challenge from a regulatory perspective during the current administration. WBD's restructuring into two independent media companies is to be completed in mid-2026 (see 2506090024). International Center for Law & Economics senior scholar Eric Fruits wrote that the WBD breakup "might be the best bad option" for the company, letting its streaming and cable networks arms pursue strategies that would be impossible within the corporate structure. The networks company could consolidate with other cable assets, and the streaming company would have the ability to partner, merge or be acquired without debt complications, he said. The networks company's job "is not necessarily to grow; that ship has sailed," given the acceleration of cord-cutting, he said. Instead, its job is to maximize cash generation while that business shrinks, which requires different management skills and capital allocation than growth businesses, he noted.

Former FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington's suggestion that streaming platforms be subject to MVPD-like regulation (see 2505270054) lacks statutory justification and is the wrong approach from a competition policy standpoint, Free State Foundation wrote Monday. It argued that the better way to put virtual MVPDs on the same regulatory footing as traditional MVPDs is to roll back rules governing satellite and cable TV. Under the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, it's likely that federal courts would determine that the federal law governing the FCC's authority over MVPDs doesn't extend to virtual MVPDs, the group said.

Disney told the SEC on Monday that it plans to close on its purchase of Comcast's share of Hulu by July 24. Disney said that on top of the $8.6 billion it has already given Comcast, it will pay an additional $438.7 million after a series of appraisals.

The Freedom of the Press Foundation is threatening litigation against Paramount Global if it settles a $20 billion lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump over its subsidiary CBS’ news coverage. Settling the lawsuit would damage CBS’ standing as a news organization, said a Thursday letter to Paramount’s board of directors. FPF is a shareholder of Paramount Global, the letter said. The board reportedly made a $15 million settlement offer to Trump recently. “A settlement with President Trump here would constitute a gross breach of the Board’s fiduciary duties to its shareholders, and we believe could violate laws prohibiting bribery of public officials,” the letter said.

Sports streaming services Fubo TV and Dazn will reciprocally distribute their owned-and-operated linear channels on each other's U.S. platforms, the companies said Tuesday. Dazn's exclusive boxing and mixed martial arts content will be available on Fubo's Dazn1 channel, while Dazn will carry Fubo's free, ad-supported Fubo Sports channel, they said. The two platforms will have future collaborations as well, they added.

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington is right that broadcast ownership restrictions need modernization, but his call for streaming platforms to be subject to MVPD-like regulation (see 2505270054) is economically flawed, International Center for Law & Economics senior scholar Eric Fruits wrote Friday. That would extend an outdated regulatory framework over more technologies, he said. Streaming began and grew because streamers weren't subject to the heavy-handed rules that traditional linear providers were, and expanding legacy rules to streaming platforms could discourage technological experimentation, he said. Instead, the commission should revisit the broadcast industry's national cap and "offer the MVPDs the same light-touch rules that streamers currently enjoy."

U.S. TV revenue rose $11 billion in 2024, to $225.6 billion, with subscription video-on-demand gains and price increases providing most of the growth, nScreenMedia's Colin Dixon wrote Monday. The biggest revenue drop -- 38% -- was in physical media rentals and purchases. Traditional MVPDs collectively lost 6.4 million subscribers, ending 2024 with 50.9 million. Virtual MVPDs added 2 million subscribers to reach 20.5 million.

The FCC should take “a second look” at reclassifying streaming platforms -- sometimes called virtual MVPDs -- as MVPDs and allow broadcasters more flexibility to consolidate, Commissioner Nathan Simington said Tuesday in a Daily Caller column co-authored with Gavin Wax, his chief of staff. “The Communications Act’s definition of a ‘channel’ must be expanded from covering spectrum to encompass digital distribution,” they wrote. “If it walks and talks like a broadcaster, it should be regulated like one.”

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez will speak at a Free Press event Wednesday as part of her “First Amendment Tour.” The event will be held at California State University in Los Angeles at noon, with a livestream starting at 12:30 PT. In addition to Gomez, it will feature Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., Free Press co-CEO Jessica Gonzalez and officials from public broadcasting and the press. In a release, Gomez said the tour is “an effort to defend the First Amendment from those who use it as a weapon against the very freedoms it protects.”

Any FCC approval of Skydance Media's proposed purchase of Paramount Global should include conditions safeguarding Paramount's entertainment industry employment, Project Rise Partners (PRP) co-Chair Daphna Ziman told FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington, according to a filing posted Thursday (docket 24-275). PRP has also made an offer to buy Paramount (see 2504030049). Other concerns that PRP raised include reports about Skydance's alleged involvement in Paramount operations before the deal is approved and how the transaction could affect CBS' relationship with its affiliates. Asked Thursday during the FCC's monthly meeting about the timing of its decisions on Skydance/Paramount, Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency continues to run “a normal review process” of the deal's merits. He said the agency is or has been working through numerous transactions of late, such as Verizon/Frontier Communications.