David Zaslav Sees Major Media Consolidation Coming – Sun Valley

deadline.com:

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav expects media deals to pick up sharply, be it traditional M&A or streaming pacts, as the contours of the industry continue to evolve. “I think probably over the next year or two you’re going to see some real consolidation, whether that happens from companies buying each other, or jointly going after streaming together,” he told CNBC as he arrived in Sun Valley, kerchief around his neck.

Media and tech moguls, big investors and a handful of high- profile governors have gathered at the annual Allen & Co. conference in the Idaho ski town.

Zaslav said he’s excited about two WBD ventures, a streaming bundle launching this summer With Disney+, Hulu and Max. And Venu, a sports streaming joint venture with Disney and Fox, set to debut in the fall. “It’s a really contemporary product, so there will be no channels, when you go on there you will be able to see all of the hockey, Nascar” and lots of other programming. “Between Fox, Warner Bros.

and ESPN, we have about 75% of [all] sport.” The company may soon have one less big sport — basketball — as TNT’s rights deal with the NBA look set to head elsewhere.