2026 media predictions from 16 anonymous executives
Warner Bros. David Zaslav, CEO and President of Discovery, and David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance.
Mike Blake | Brendan McDermid | Reuters
It’s time for everyone’s favorite holiday tradition: CNBC’s annual anonymous media executive predictions!
CNBC spoke with 16 of the most powerful and influential executives in US media, sports and entertainment; All of them offered a prediction for the coming year under the condition of anonymity so they could talk freely and make bold bets.
This year we’re splitting predictions into three categories: M&A predictions, sports predictions, and miscellaneous. A few notes from last year’s list before we get started. (You can find the full list here.)
One manager predicted comcast would acquire its studio and broadcasting assets Warner Bros. discovery and combine them with NBCUniversal. Closed! Comcast bid for these assets, but WBD ultimately chose an offer from Netflix. Now facing a hostile bid Paramount Skydance. As you might expect, there will be more information about this in this year’s forecast.
Another executive predicted that 2025 would see many TV broadcast mergers, and that’s sort of how it turned out: Tegna And next star announced that he had made an agreement and sinclair made a hostile bid to buy it, which has so far failed EW Scripts.
Another predicted a major tech company would buy the video game maker Electronic Arts. No bad. The receiver wasn’t a big tech product, but EA made it a consortium It is managed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and private equity firm Silver Lake.
And last year, one manager largely accomplished that. They said sports streaming service Venu would never (launch) and Fox will license sports content Disney’s ESPN (Fox has launched a bundle with ESPN for $39.99 per month that combines the two companies’ sports programming for broadcasters).
Without further ado, let’s share this year’s list:
Merger and Acquisition Forecasts
Executive 1: Paramount, Warner Bros. Will buy all of Discovery
I should have gotten this out of the way. This executive predicted that Paramount would eventually convince the WBD board to terminate its deal with Netflix and sell the entire company to the Ellison family and their financial backers.
Executive 2: Apple will buy NBCUniversal
Now we’re getting brave! This executive predicted that although Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts loved the media business and wanted to own and control a combined NBCU-WBD, he would have to accept that with Warner Bros. out of the picture, there was no deal left for him. This manager said Apple He both wants and needs to stay relevant in the media, and NBCU is the best prize available.
Frankly, it’s nice to hear a non-Disney Apple M&A prediction.
Brian Roberts, president and CEO of Comcast, at the annual Allen & Co. event in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 9, 2025. He attended the Media and Technology Conference.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Executive 3: Amazon or YouTube will buy NBCUniversal assets
Similarly, this executive said WBD will set a new, higher EBITDA multiple for its media assets. This could lead to Roberts now selling NBCU, or at least Peacock and Universal, NBCU’s broadcast and studio assets. But this executive hedged his bets and said the theme parks may or may not be part of a sale.
To avoid potential antitrust questions, this executive suggested that a technology company could be allowed to operate a broadcast network like NBC if stations owned and operated by NBC were sold separately.
Executive 4: Paramount will lose WBD, divest CBS, buy NBCUniversal
Yes, a deal involving NBCU was very popular this round. If Paramount doesn’t use WBD, it needs a backup plan to gain scale. NBCUniversal and Peacock could be a nice consolation prize, but regulators almost certainly won’t let Paramount own both CBS and NBC. So this executive predicted that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison would leave CBS (more on CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss later) and retain NBC to persuade Roberts to sell.
Executive 5: Comcast will buy Roku
This executive said he wasn’t so quick to sell NBCU. Comcast still has another move to make. roku It has a market value of approximately $16 billion. This is a move Roberts could make to both get Comcast into national video distribution and add Roku’s media assets to NBCU.
sports predictions
Executive 6: Paramount will lose WBD and buy Main Street Sports
Here is an interesting situation; this executive predicted that Paramount would acquire the company formerly known as Diamond Sports Group. This would make Paramount the owner of 15 regional sports networks (and a partial owner of the YES Network) and would be another way to further Ellison’s sports ambitions.
A detail of a Wilson basketball is seen with the “March Madness” logo visible during the practice day before the First Round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Lenovo Arena on March 20, 2025 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
Executive 7: Both Men’s March Madness and College Football Playoffs will be expanded next year
While it’s not the boldest prediction on the list, it’s perhaps the best bet for it to come true. NCAA considering upgrading The number of men’s teams in the tournament increased from 68 to 76. CFP could go from 12 to 12. 16 teams – or maybe even more. This executive thinks it will happen in 2026.
Executive 8: NFL to sign new, expanded deals with existing media partners
Much ink has been spilled on YouTube and Netflix’s competitive threats to traditional media companies. The epitome of this threat is the removal of live NFL games from broadcasters and ESPN.
This executive predicted the NFL would ensure that doesn’t happen by extending contracts with CBS, NBC, ABC/ESPN and Fox in 2026. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC in September that he was open to starting those renewal talks next year.
Executive 9: Amazon will get a new NFL international package
Goodell talked about expanding the league’s international play by: 16 per season It includes all 32 teams. This executive predicted the league would sell this game package to a single buyer next year, and Amazon Prime Video will complement its Thursday Night Football package with a Sunday package of overseas games.
Executive 10: NFL’s acceleration of media rights talks will push MLB and NHL to push their talks to 2026
This manager thought that only so much money could be transferred to large media companies. Rather than waiting for the NFL to make its deal in 2026 and having to live on what’s left over, a better strategic move may be for MLB and NHL to stay ahead of the NFL to maximize media rights value.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at the annual Allen & Co. Conference on July 10, 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho. He speaks to CNBC at the Media and Technology conference.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Executive 11: Traditional media companies will make deep cuts to linear network entertainment spending to hang on to NFL and other sports
The same logic applies to limiting media budgets. This executive predicted that media companies will have to cut their non-sports budgets to accommodate the massive increase from the NFL, with the effects starting in 2026.
Executive 12: Both WNBA and MLB to announce lockouts
The WNBA’s collective bargaining negotiations are currently ongoing with a new deadline of January 9. National Women’s Basketball Players Association Executive Director Terri Carmichael Jackson told CNBC this week that she was disturbed by the pace of the debate.
MLB’s collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1, 2026. This executive predicted a lockout in both leagues due to owners and players not being able to agree on new CBAs in a timely manner.
Various predictions
Disney CEO Bob Iger (R) and Disney Experiences President Josh D’Amaro speak on CNBC’s Squawkbox on May 7, 2025.
CNBC
Executive 13: Disney to appoint Josh D’Amaro as next CEO to replace Bob Iger at year’s end
You knew a Disney CEO’s prediction would be on the list. Disney is expected to name Iger’s successor in early 2026. Josh D’Amaro manages the parks and resorts division and He’s one of the two favorites, along with Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment.
Executive 14: Marjorie Taylor Greene joins “The View”
Hey, some of these are out of the box! Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia announced in November that she would resign from Congress effective Jan. 5. According to this executive, his next stop could be ABC’s daytime talk show “The View.”
U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) announced that she is resigning from office in this screenshot from a statement posted on social media on November 21, 2025.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Via X | via Reuters
Executive 15: Bari Weiss to host new self-titled CBS News show
CBS News’ Weiss, who was appointed editor-in-chief in October, already leads town halls at the network and promised “There will be many more conversations like this in the coming weeks and months.” This executive predicted that Weiss would use it as a launching pad for the show he hosted.
Executive 16: “By 2026, Hollywood will organize a mass boycott of ‘digital commerce’ after discovering that they are irrelevant, meaningless and often inaccurate.”
I’m including this verbatim so the “digital tradesmen” (Puck, The Ankler, etc.) will have something to speculate on in subsequent newsletters and podcast episodes. Which hot Hollywood executive made this bold prediction? Free content from me to you. Now that’s a Christmas gift!
Happy holidays!
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become CNBC’s new parent company, based on Comcast’s planned Versant spinoff.
