, Comcast, Disney, Fox and ViacomCBS aren’t moving much as investors process the news. Shares are flat to up 1% during a fairly sedate trading session. In a flurry of research notes heading into the weekend, analysts tallied up the pluses and minuses, with cord-cutting a primary theme., the first time a streaming service will have an exclusive piece of the NFL pie. Yet deals have a heavy linear TV component.
“Over time, this approach could likely accelerate cord-cutting, which will then force Disney and Fox into more difficult choices,” he wrote. “Does ESPN+ finally evolve from ESPN linear? Will Fox ownership decide to sell their digital rights to a third party streaming service?” Michael Morris of Guggenheim pointed out that Disney “saw the biggest expansion in rights, with what we estimate as the most modest cost increase.” That will afford the company some maneuverability when it comes to migrating viewers from linear to streaming, which has been a core priority over the past few years. Agreed Nathanson, “Disney appears to be the only company that can claim that they were able to get more value from the new deal than the old deal.
Rich Greenfield of Lightshed Partners didn’t flag any imminent change for Disney. But he has long been predicting the demise of pay-TV, often appending his Twitter posts with the hashtag #goodluckbundle. In a blog post, he said the NFL renewals will only accelerate the trend.