Anyone who followed my writings over the past year should not be surprised by this. Of course, considering that we saw Amazon buy MGM, drop $100 million on a NFL playoff game, and Apple with its own weekly MLB broadcasting, this isn't going out too far on a limb.
We also have Paramount's debt being reduced to junk with the company already on the market.
All of this means that we are looking at a matter of time before Big Tech buys all of broadcasting. It only makes sense.
Trillion Dollar companies Swallowing Those Worth Billions
When it comes to the broadcasters, we are dealing with minor companies compared to Big Tech.
Whatever we are looking at, with the exception of Disney, could be purchased with the cash Apple has on hand. In other words, it could write out a check for the entire company.
This means we have to only determine the interest of the technology companies. Obviously, based upon the early actions, the move is already taking place.
It is a move that makes a great deal of sense, especially in light of the fact that the broadcast entities have dumped billions into streaming, only to keep feeding a hole that only seems to get larger.
Unfortunately, in the process, they accelerated the demise of the cable/satellite packages, which was the golden goose. Now they are left flailing.
Here is where Big Tech can excel.
Cross Promotion
An interesting thing happened when Paramount put the first season of Yellowstone on the CBS. Even though it was older programming, this was something that was not seen outside the streaming world. This allowed CBS to dominated the ratings.
It was a very effective move, one rarely thought about. Instead of trying to push everything towards streaming, this went in the opposite direction and moving things from streaming to regular television.
This is NOW entering the realm of what these companies do. They are masters of leveraging their digital platforms. Here is where the expertise is applicable.
Amazon, in my mind, is the king of this. It has mastered the flywheel effect and it is shown in their quarterly numbers.
Of course, we have to mention that Amazon does have its own studio, creating movies and television programing. Here is where that which was only seen on Amazon Prime could appear on broadcast television.
Also, by acquiring the library of these entities, the technology companies could leverage their subscription models even further.
Keep Some Assets, Sell Others
There are some assets that could be of great interest. Others are dying animals.
Cable news, for example, is a dog with fleas. Actually, the network news might be on the block also. These are not major money makers anymore.
What is of interest is the sports contracts that are already in place. The broadcasters are major players in this arena. Getting their claws into this programming could provide a major windfall to these companies.
Between Google, Amazon, and Apple, we are talking about companies worth roughly $2T-$3T in market capitalization. They also are deep into AI, meaning this could be brought to these platforms.
The final piece is individual sales. Each of these companies already offers individual episodes on a payment basis. iTunes is full of digital downloads for purchase on an individual basis. Amazon Prime Video comes with the subscription yet only certain programming is included. The rest can be purchased.
Having access to the libraries of some of these companies means this could be expanded. For example, perhaps one could buy the entire series to things such a Dragnet or the Cosby Show. There are many different ways to leverage this across existing platforms.
In Conclusion
Technology companies are not going to back down. They have shown the desire to enter the broadcast arena and are doing so. YouTube is expanding that platform. It is getting more into the traditional broadcast realm with their Google Red.
There is an old saying, what business is a technology company in? The answer is anyone it wants.
We are seeing this evidenced here.
Big Tech will eventually buy out the major broadcasting entities. The content is there and they have the platforms to deliver.