On this week’s episode of Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast, media industry veteran Jon Miller, CEO of Integrated Media, offers his perspective on what it’s like to be part of a megabucks merger that represents an enormous bet on the future. He examines the deals and the varied motives of the biggest players in media.
Miller, whose resume includes stints in senior business roles at News Corp, Viacom and Time Warner, breaks down the strategic rationale that drives most acquisitions for media which is deep into consolidation mode in the U.S. He sees the current wave of deals as having started in 2022 when AT&T spun off WarnerMedia barely four years after the telco acquired Time Warner.
“That was the starting bell of ‘Everyone’s open for business’ kind of thing,” Miller observers. “Now Comcast and what it’s done with both recent and spinning out NBCUniversal, we’re looking at all the companies stepping back saying, ‘Do I have the right assets to compete going forward? And if not, what should I do?’”
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From Miller’s point of view, you’re seeing a couple of different answers. “One is, I kind of want to go like-for-like, and I would put [Paramount Skydance] and Warner Bros. Discovery as like-for-like. They’re essentially in the same business. You can argue some of the differences, but they’re essentially the same content-distribution type businesses,” he says. “So you’re saying, ‘I’m going to go more differently and try to either vertically integrate or go for different capabilities.’ And that’s Fox-Roku, right? That’s not like-for-like, that is looking at two different sectors of, of the landscape and combining them. And that’s a different answer. And I think those are the two fundamental vectors.”
Miller, who at present runs a media investment firm backed by private equity giant TPG, also weighs in on the shifts in the U.K. and Europe as evidenced by the steady stream of M&A coming out of mid- to large-size players ala Banijay and Mediawan. It’s a response to the eye-watering market share and muscle employed by the largest streamers, from YouTube to Netflix to Amazon to Disney+. He sees room for regional players — a la the proposed Sky-ITV combination — but the long-term trend is clear.
“Globalization may be a concept that’s less in favor in certain economic circles or political circles, but as a technical matter and as a media matter, globalization is winning,” says Miller.
“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud and more.
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