Practitioner cases on how the media industry actually consolidates. The $110B Paramount+WBD megamerger, the Disney-Fox precedent, Angel Studios' faith-and-family independent play. Numbers, not narratives.
The whole industry re-sorts every few years. Disney bought Fox in 2019. Comcast is splitting Media and Tech in 2025. Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are combining into a $110B enterprise for 2027. Angel Studios built a $500M-EV faith-market operator from a VidAngel bankruptcy. This division tracks the deals, the sports-rights portfolios inside them, the streaming-vs-linear economics, and the founder-vs-professional-manager patterns. Many pieces here crosslink to the Sports Division — because NFL, NBA, SEC, and UFC rights are what the megamergers are really fighting over.
The Institute's anchor cases on media consolidation.
The M&A precedent that framed every media deal since. Sky pre-close cash sale ($15.0B), Sinclair RSN sale, Star India divestiture — the Institute-adjusted apples-to-apples math on what Disney actually paid for what.
Crosslinks: Sports Division (ESPN, RSN portfolio) · Paramount case Read the case → Case Study · Independent StudioThe $500M-EV faith-and-family studio built from the VidAngel bankruptcy. Sound of Freedom breakthrough, the Guild subscriber model, LTV/CAC economics. What Disney reorg probability actually means for indie distribution.
Crosslinks: Case Studies Read the case → Case Study · Corporate SplitThe counter-play to the Paramount+WBD combination. NBCU spinning while Paramount consolidates. Sum-of-the-parts read on Comcast's split into two publicly-traded companies.
Crosslinks: Sports Division (Versant, NBA return) · Paramount case Read the case → Institute View · Thought ExperimentThe Institute's read on what Berkshire Hathaway would do with the NBCU spinco after the Comcast split. The strategic fit, the valuation, the succession angle.
Crosslinks: Comcast case · Berkshire Read Read the analysis → Case Study · Media-AdjacentNot entertainment strictly, but the platform-consolidator playbook that Disney and Paramount are still trying to execute. Bernard Arnault's decade-by-decade build.
Crosslinks: Acquisitions Atlas Read the case →Coverage on the specific rights and economics that drive Entertainment M&A. Full crosslink with the Sports Division.
NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NCAA rights — how they've moved between linear TV, streaming, and hybrid packages over the past decade. What each round of renegotiation was actually about.
Read → AnalysisWhere the viewer actually is in 2026-2028. Streaming vs. linear vs. social clips. The economics behind each channel's payout to the leagues.
Read → AnalysisDocumentary and biopic economics. Netflix's Drive to Survive playbook. The value of an access deal that the operator writes as marketing but the analyst has to score as revenue.
Read → AnalysisThe 2026 FIFA World Cup impact on MLS asset values, media rights, and the Apple TV deal that already priced most of it in.
Read → Full Sports Division →The Institute's dedicated Sports Division. NFL team profiles, valuations, ownership structures, stadium deals, and the practitioner economics of pro sports.
Open the division →Every media deal is a portfolio deal. When Disney bought Fox, it wasn't buying a "media company" — it was buying Star India, Sky, the RSN portfolio, the FX cable network, the film library, and the Hulu stake, then re-selling the pieces that didn't fit. When Paramount and WBD combine, they aren't merging "content" — they're merging four specific sports-rights contracts, three streaming platforms, two film libraries, and a legacy cable-network stack.
The reader who wants to understand entertainment M&A has to understand the portfolio, not the brand names. That's what this division is written for.
The Entertainment Division continues to build.
The flagship music-industry case. Roll-up economics of the recorded music business, the streaming waterfall, Vivendi's 2021 spinoff, and where the next decade's cash flow actually comes from.
Coming soonHow to actually read Netflix's amortized content library. What the working-capital swing tells you about the shape of the business.
Coming soonThe Baratelli Institute is a publisher operating under the Lowe v. SEC publisher exception. Nothing on this page is investment advice, legal advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell, or engage in any transaction. Every quantitative reference traces to a filed SEC document, publicly-reported transaction disclosure, or industry-standard practitioner benchmark. Independent editorial analysis. © 2026 The Baratelli Institute.