{"id":24611,"date":"2024-12-18T12:06:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T11:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/?p=24611"},"modified":"2024-12-18T12:14:56","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T11:14:56","slug":"the-end-of-the-era-of-linear-television-wbd-and-comcast-in-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/2024\/12\/18\/das-ende-der-aera-des-linearen-fernsehens-wbd-und-comcast-im-umbruch\/","title":{"rendered":"The end of the era of linear television: WBD and Comcast in transition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast are separating their cable-based businesses and splitting their TV networks from streaming and studio operations. This strategy marks the end of the heyday of linear television, as both advertisers and viewers increasingly switch to digital platforms. The consequences are clear: both companies are seeking short-term stability, with mergers or sales seemingly inevitable.<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Comcast are making strategic adjustments to dismantle their once successful cable businesses and reorganise their streaming and studios businesses. These moves mark the end of the era of linear television as both viewers and advertisers increasingly shift to digital platforms.<\/p>

Profits from traditional cable advertising are shrinking rapidly and forecasts suggest that they could fall below USD 20 billion by 2026. WBD took a $9.1 billion write-down on its TV networks in the second quarter of 2024. Comcast, on the other hand, is spinning off its cable operations into a separate entity called \"SpinCo\" in preparation for potential mergers with WBD.<\/p>

Despite the intention to sell cable assets, the market for such transactions remains difficult. WBD carries high debt, while Comcast's SpinCo is described as \"thinned core\", which deters potential buyers.<\/p>

There are also challenges in the streaming sector. Although streaming channels such as Max and Peacock are experiencing growth (e.g. 7.2 million new subscribers for WBD in the third quarter of 2023), profitability remains questionable. Advertising costs have fallen sharply, with CPM values expected to fall below USD 29 by the second quarter of 2025. Streaming services are also competing with platforms such as Netflix, which now has 70 million users for its ad-financed offerings.<\/p>

The separate business units are intended to create short-term financial flexibility and reduce debt. However, these measures are primarily survival strategies to prepare for mergers or sales rather than long-term innovations.<\/p>

To summarise, Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast need to adapt their business models to the new streaming world. However, this change will not be enough to halt the decline of linear television. Further consolidation and market adjustments are necessary in order to remain competitive in the long term and survive successfully in the digital age.<\/p>

FILMTAKE<\/a> reports in detail.<\/p>

Picture: \u00a9 Paxabay<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast are separating their cable-based businesses and splitting their TV networks from streaming and studio divisions. This strategy marks the end of the heyday of linear television, as both...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":24612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-minimal.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[51,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-filmwirtschaft","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24611"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24624,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24611\/revisions\/24624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intelligence.ensider.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}