May 17 (Reuters)-AT&T Inc spun off his WarnerMedia business and merged it with Discovery Inc on Monday in a $43 billion deal that is second to none in the streaming era. Media bankers and analysts say the deal will not follow.
This agreement allows WarnerMedia's HBO Max to add 15 million subscribers to Discovery in addition to its own global 64 million subscribers.
The combined company is larger and has a better chance of competing with Netflix and Walt Disney, which have 207.6 million and 103.6 million subscribers each.
But the deal makes ViacomCBS and its remaining streaming companies, such as Comcast's NBCUniversal, even more vulnerable.
Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson, said the deal between AT&T Inc and Discovery put "tremendous pressure" on NBC NBCUniversal. NBC Global is in the "awkward" middle position: too small to be a long-term winner for the media industry, but not small enough to be a target for other large companies.
Comcast Corp declined to comment.
AT&T Inc considered a variety of options for his media subsidiary, including a merger with ViacomCBS, but decided to press ahead with the deal with Discovery because he thought the latter had better media assets and fewer regulatory hurdles, according to a person familiar with the matter.
ViacomCBS didn't respond to a request for comment. (end)
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/ > AT&T Inc, Discovery deal highlights media's thirst to be like Netflix
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(compiled by Chen Zongqi / Wang can; revised by Li Tingyi / Zheng Yin)
((can.wang@thomsonreuters.com; 86-10-56692078;)
This agreement allows WarnerMedia's HBO Max to add 15 million subscribers to Discovery in addition to its own global 64 million subscribers.
The combined company is larger and has a better chance of competing with Netflix and Walt Disney, which have 207.6 million and 103.6 million subscribers each.
But the deal makes ViacomCBS and its remaining streaming companies, such as Comcast's NBCUniversal, even more vulnerable.
Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson, said the deal between AT&T Inc and Discovery put "tremendous pressure" on NBC NBCUniversal. NBC Global is in the "awkward" middle position: too small to be a long-term winner for the media industry, but not small enough to be a target for other large companies.
Comcast Corp declined to comment.
AT&T Inc considered a variety of options for his media subsidiary, including a merger with ViacomCBS, but decided to press ahead with the deal with Discovery because he thought the latter had better media assets and fewer regulatory hurdles, according to a person familiar with the matter.
ViacomCBS didn't respond to a request for comment. (end)
* if you want to refer to the original report, please click and browse *
/ > AT&T Inc, Discovery deal highlights media's thirst to be like Netflix
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(compiled by Chen Zongqi / Wang can; revised by Li Tingyi / Zheng Yin)
((can.wang@thomsonreuters.com; 86-10-56692078;)