The Streaming Wars

ESPN's nearly $1.7 billion deal expands the CFP to 24 teams in 2027, adding 12 games at a net annual rights cost of roughly $205 million after conference championship savings. Disney gains control of all 23 playoff games through 2032,…

Roku's advertising and subscription revenues both grew 23% in Q3, but advertising generated more than three times the incremental gross profit. As Versant, People Inc., and Fox pursue new revenue streams to offset legacy declines, profitability remains the real test.…

Fox's $22 billion acquisition of Roku gives it control of a connected-TV operating system reaching more than 100 million households, along with Roku's advertising, subscription distribution and streaming businesses. Fox can use Roku's home screen to drive growth for Tubi…

Meta's paused plans to expand its website crawling rights after court injunctions in Norway and Brazil, UK regulatory scrutiny, and publisher opposition. The proposed terms would've forced publishers to accept broader content collection permissions or lose access to Meta's business…

Xperi's TiVo One reached 6.8 million monthly active devices in Q3, up 40%, while advertising and related revenue jumped 281% to $14.9 million. Fox's $22 billion Roku acquisition makes TiVo OS a more valuable independent alternative for TV manufacturers, giving…

Amazon faces allegations from the FTC and 22 states that it used advertisers' ROAS to impose hidden search-ad surcharges of up to 250% above auction-calculated prices. Amazon disputes the claims, which raise pricing transparency and measurement concerns as its AI-managed…

Basics of Streaming explains why live sports delivery costs rise with viewership, potentially reaching $112,500 per hour for one million concurrent viewers. CDN optimization, efficient streaming technology, and revenue per viewer-hour are critical to protecting profitability as audiences grow.

Kirby examines how the bundle boom is reshaping streaming economics as premium SVOD bundle signups reached 20 million in Q4 2025. The analysis breaks down why subscriber growth doesn't always translate into incremental revenue, and how customer acquisition, migration, wholesale…

Snap will eliminate regional DAU and ARPU disclosures starting with Q1 2027 results, shifting to global MAU-based metrics. North America generated 59% of Q3 revenue despite a 6% decline in daily users, making it harder for investors to distinguish audience…

From the Archives traces Showtime's shift from pay-TV authentication to standalone streaming and its eventual integration into Paramount+. Skydance's consolidation plans reinforce how aggregation can lower costs, improve subscriber retention, and preserve the value of premium programming without maintaining separate…

People Inc.'s licensing revenue jumped 49% to $52.7 million in Q3, helping offset a nearly 70% decline in Google search referrals over two years. Apple News and AI licensing deals are driving growth while increasing the publisher's dependence on platforms…

Versant’s platform businesses added $33 million in comparable Q3 revenue, falling short of a $57 million decline in linear distribution. Fandango led the gains, and Versant’s betting on Fandango1 to turn nearly 3,000 cinema relationships into recurring software and payments…