Media, tech titans head for Sun Valley with streaming alliances top of mind

Media
and
technology
titans
will
convene
in
Sun
Valley
this
week
to
lay
the
groundwork
for
the
future
of
streaming
—
and
for
potential
alliances.

Allen
&
Co.’s
annual
conference,
often
referred
to
as
“summer
camp
for
billionaires,”
kicks
off
at
a
ski
lodge
in
Idaho
on
Tuesday.
The
conference,
which
has
been
held
since
1983,
has
been
the
birthplace
of
media
megadeals
and
the
venue
for
industry
leaders
to
discuss
the
future
of
their
businesses,
as
well
as
the
overall
economy.

The
Sun
Valley
invite
list

reportedly
includes
legacy
media
leaders
like


Warner
Bros.
Discovery’s
David
Zaslav;


Disney’s
Bob
Iger
and
his
potential
successors
Dana
Walden,
Alan
Bergman,
Josh
D’Amaro
and
Hugh
Johnston;
as
well
as


Netflix
co-CEOs
Ted
Sarandos
and
Greg
Peters;
along
with
tech
titans
like


Amazon’s
Andy
Jassy
and
Jeff
Bezos;
and


Apple
CEO
Tim
Cook.
While
these
heavy
hitters
are
frequent
attendees
of
the
conference,
it’s
not
certain
they
will
be
present
this
year.

Shari
Redstone,
a
habitual
attendee,
is
also
on
the
guest
list.
Her
participation
at
the
conference
will
come
after
her
National
Amusements,
the
controlling
shareholder
of


Paramount
Global,
agreed
to

merge
the
media
company
with
Skydance
after
months
of
negotiations.

Talk
of
the
dramatic
deal
process
will
likely
circulate
throughout
conversations.
But
more
important,
Sun
Valley
may
also
be
a
key
setting
to
advance
deal
discussions.
The
Skydance
agreement
includes
a
45-day
“go-shop”
clause,
meaning
potential
bidders
still
have
time
to
make
their
offers.

On
a
broader
scale,
the
Paramount
deal
will
serve
as
the
backdrop
to
the
larger
discussion
about
the
business
of
streaming
and
how
to
make
it
profitable.
In
past
years,
media
companies
chased
high
subscriber
numbers
in
an
attempt
to
best
each
other.
But
this
time
the
focus
will
be
on
how
to
come
together
to
make
the
tricky
business
of
streaming
work.

“Hands
down,
the
one
really
important
topic
here
is
how
do
these
companies
make
the
streaming
of
TV
globally
work
for
everyone,”
said
Neil
Begley,
an
analyst
at
Moody’s
Investors
Services.
“It’s
either
going
to
be
the
more
aggressive
use
of
bundling
services
or
forming
joint
ventures,
or
mergers.”

With
Netflix
in
the
lead
of
the
so-called
streaming
wars,
with 269.6
million
members
globally,
many
other
streaming
players
believe
there’s
room
for
combinations
to
keep
pace.

Media
mogul
Barry
Diller
—
who
also
made

a
run
at
acquiring
Paramount
—
has

said
the
industry
needs
to
give
up
on
chasing
Netflix
and
focus
on
the
broadcast
and
pay-TV
businesses
that
remain
profitable.

Executives
from
Paramount’s
future
ownership
said
on
a
Monday
investor
call
that
it
plans
to
explore
partnerships
or
bundles
with
other
streaming
players.
Former
NBCUniversal
CEO
Jeff
Shell,
who
is
slated
to
become
the
next
president
of
Paramount,
said
Monday
he
views
bundles
and
joint
ventures
as
the
future
of
the
streaming
business.

Paramount’s
current
leadership
has
also
been
in
active
discussions
with
other
media
and
tech
companies
about
merging
Paramount+
with
another
streaming
platform,
CNBC
previously

reported.

“I
personally
think
eventually
the
streaming
world
is
going
to
look
very
similar
to
the
way
the
[pay-TV]
world
looked
in
the
past,”
said
Shell
on
Monday’s
call,
adding
the
investor
consortium
that’s
buying
up
Paramount
has
received
interested
calls
on
potential
streaming
partnerships.

Shell
believes
there
will
eventually
be
a
“one-stop
shop”
with
all
streaming
apps
for
consumers.
“If
you’re
in
that
bundle,
you’re
going
to
win.
And
if
you’re
not
in
that
bundle,
you’re
in
real
trouble,”
he
said.

Merging
or
establishing
joint
ventures
is
one
route.
Bundling
services
together
is
a
second
way,
and
some
media
companies
have
been
moving
on
that
front.

While
Disney
bundles
its
own
streaming
services
—
Disney+,
Hulu
and
ESPN+
—
it’s
also
teaming
up
with
other
companies.

Disney
and
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
plan
to
offer
a
bundle
that
will
be
a
mashup
of
Max,
Disney+
and
Hulu,
launching
this
summer.
The
two
companies
are
also
joining


Fox
Corp.
to
offer
a

sports
streaming
service
that’s
expected
to
launch
in
the
fall.

“There’s
going
to
be
real
alliances,
and
a
need
for
it,
since
media
is
now
generally
desperate
enough
that
none
of
the
traditional
companies
can
do
it
alone,”
said
Jonathan
Miller,
chief
executive
of
Integrated
Media,
which
specializes
in
digital
media
investment.
“They
all
realized
this
and
have
taken
enough
lumps
by
now.”

The
idea,
broadly,
is
to
get
users
in
the
door
and
watching
their
shows
and
movies,
even
at
a
discounted
price.
According
to
Begley,
Sun
Valley
should
feature
some
discussion
around
raising
streaming
prices
on
premium
tiers
and
pushing
consumers
toward
ad-supported
options
to
maximize
advertising
revenue.

“I
think
Sun
Valley
is
going
to
focus
more
on
‘What
do
we
do?’
It’s
all
these
diverse
media
companies
who
used
to
be
the
deep
pockets
and
control
Hollywood,
and
now
they’re
no
longer
the
kings
they
were,”
said
Mark
Boidman,
head
of
media
and
entertainment
investment
banking
at
Solomon
Partners.

With
the
NBA’s
media
rights
negotiations
still
ongoing,
sports
will
remain
a
topic
of
conversation
at
this
year’s
gathering.

League
commissioners,
especially
the
NFL’s
Roger
Goodell,
are
often
attendees
of
the
Sun
Valley
conference.
Over
the
past
year
streaming
and
tech
players
have
claimed
an
even
greater
share
of
the
space
that’s
traditionally
been
held
by
legacy
companies.

The
NFL
signed
11-year
media
rights
deals
valued
at
over
$100
billion,
and
the
league
has
shown
it
believes
streaming
to
be
integral
to
its
future.
Amazon
is
the
exclusive
home
of
“Thursday
Night
Football,”
while
Google’s
YouTube
TV
recently
acquired
the
rights
to
“Sunday
Ticket.”
Recently,
Netflix
said
it
would
begin
airing
NFL
games
on
Christmas
Day.

Incumbent
NBA
rights
holder
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
has
been
weighing
whether
to
match
a
competing
offer
for
the
media
rights
as
the
league
looks
to
finalize
smaller
package
deals.
The
league
is
close
to
signing
agreements
with
Disney,
NBCUniversal
and
Amazon,
CNBC
previously

reported.

“Another
big
theme
[at
Sun
Valley]
is
how
deep
are
we
going
in
sports,”
said
Miller.
“It’s
pretty
clear
the
NBA
is
the
last-of-its-kind
deal
for
the
traditional
players.
In
eight
to
10
years
from
now,
they
won’t
be
able
to
compete.”

Sports
remain
the
glue
holding
the
traditional
pay-TV
bundle
together,
and
has
proven
invaluable
for
streaming
services,
too.
Live
TV,
especially
sports,
and
to
an
extent,
news,
has
attracted
the
highest
viewership.

“With
no
more
sports
rights
on
the
table
for
quite
some
time,
the
next
time
these
rights
come
up
it’s
highly
likely
Amazon
and
Netflix
will
play
a
much
bigger
role,”
said
Begley.
“The
linear
TV
business
is
declining
and
it’s
a
long
way
from
seeing
profits
with
streaming;
we
will
likely
see
the
end
of
legacy
media’s
dominance
when
it
comes
to
sports
rights.”

Sun
Valley
also
counts
politicians,
economists
and
leadership
from
U.S.
universities
among
its
typical
attendee
list.

In
that
vein,
the
upcoming
election
is
likely
to
“dominate
a
lot
of
the
chatter”
at
Sun
Valley
this
week,
said
Miller.

Some
business
leaders
have
been
waiting
on
the
outcome
of
the
upcoming
election
before
pursuing
megadeals,
feeling
the
current
regulatory
environment
and
high
interest
rates
have
thrown
cold
water
on
dealmaking.

And
more
imminently
the
conversation
about
politics
is
likely
to
focus
on
whether
President
Joe
Biden
will,
or
should,
remain
the
Democratic
Party’s
candidate
following
his
disastrous
debate
performance
last
month.

In
recent
days,
top
party
donors
have
been

calling
for
Biden
to
step
down.

A
growing
group
of
those
dissenting
voices
and
donors
includes
media
heavyweights

such
as
Diller,


Endeavor
Group
Holdings‘
Ari
Emanuel,
Netflix
co-founder
Reed
Hastings
and
screenwriter
Damon
Lindelof
—
all
saying
they
believe
Biden
should
step
aside
to
allow
for
a
new
candidate
to
take
his
place.
Former
Disney
Studios
chairman
Jeffrey
Katzenberg
has
been

reportedly
silent
on
whether
his
longtime
support
for
Biden
has
shifted.

Meanwhile,
Disney
heiress
Abigail
Disney
has
said
she
would

withhold
funding
for
the
Democratic
Party
until
Biden
drops
out.

The
president

defended
his
mental
health
in
a
recent
interview,
and
has
repeatedly
said
he
has

no
plans
to
drop
out
of
the
election.

Disclosure:
Comcast’s
NBCUniversal
is
the
parent
company
of
CNBC.

Correction:
This
article
has
been
updated
to
correct
that
former
Disney
Studios
chairman
Jeffrey
Katzenberg
has
been


reportedly
silent

on
whether
his
longtime
support
for
President
Joe
Biden
has
shifted.
An
earlier
version
misstated
Katzenberg’s
stance.