The future of television will be dominated by four ‘global mega-companies’ according to one analyst.
Speaking during a panel of Wall Street analysts at the NATPE conference, Steve Cahall of RBC Capital predicted in a few years, television will revolve around Netflix, Amazon, Disney and Apple.
“If you don’t work for one of those four companies, then the thing to do is try to figure out how you fit in a world where they become more and more dominant,” Cahall told the audience.
The rise of the big four is likely to see other companies merge with each other or wither away, he added. “When things get disrupted this badly, there are going to be companies that go out of business; there are going to be companies that are going to be sub-scale.”
Speaking at the same event, Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson suggested the spate of mergers and acquisitions within the industry is likely to pause in the coming months: “I think we’re in the last age of general consolidation, of big changes,” he said. Apart from CBS and Viacom, which Nathanson believes will merge again this year, “We’re in this holding pattern for a while.”
