Disney, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal wrestle with balancing the value of cable networks and streaming services
Summary
The tension between how to balance streaming video, theatrical release and linear TV is leading to some peculiar choices bound to confuse consumers in whats becoming an increasingly jumbled landscape. For scripted television series, media executives have largely made the decision that streaming services will be the home for the highest quality original programming. This has allowed executives to push against the steady but not yet overwhelming surge of pay-TV cancellations, keeping alive a highly profitable business that brings in billions of dollars each year. The company wants to push Peacock subscriptions, appease pay-TV distributors who have agreed to many years of fee increases because they were receiving unique content, and maintain expensive TV advertising rates by attaching commercials to exclusive live programming. If Disney starts moving previously exclusive programming from ESPN to ESPN+, pay-TV distributors will push back on future rate increases and millions of consumers will be given another reason to cancel cable TV.