Liberty Media's John Malone Sees More Streaming Bundles Ahead

Early last year, the longtime media heavyweight John Malone made a prediction about a big change coming in the film and TV industry.

The New York Times reports the prediction came during lunch with two fellow media moguls, Brian Roberts of Comcast and Barry Diller of IAC, at his winter home in Jupiter Island, Fla., Mr. Malone hypothesized that AT&T — then the owner of media brands like HBO, CNN and the Warner Bros. film studio — would soon spin off or sell those properties.

A short time later, his prognostication came true. 

In an interview last week from his ranch in Colorado, the 81-year-old Malone said he endorsed the Discovery deal, in part, because he thinks smaller media companies need to get bigger to compete with the streaming giants like Disney and Netflix. He predicted further consolidation, with minor players either merging or bundling their services.

In the months since the Warner Bros. Discovery deal closed, the company’s stock price has fallen about 43 percent during a broader slump in the media industry. Malone said that decline — especially the tumble in the initial weeks of trading — didn’t surprise him.

Malone said he warned other board members that many shareholders of AT&T, the previous owner of WarnerMedia, would sell off the stock. They were accustomed to receiving a dividend from AT&T and would sell after the wireless giant announced lower dividend payments when the merger closed.

But Malone said he thought Warner Bros. Discovery’s bet on great films and TV shows would ultimately pay off.

Malone, who cited the Fox News host Bret Baier as a reliably centrist newscaster, said he was open to cable networks having “wacko” programming, including partisan voices from the left and right. But those opinion shows should be clearly labeled, he said.

Malone said a less partisan network might sacrifice some viewers in the short run. But more companies would be willing to advertise alongside impartial news shows, he said, and straight-down-the-middle coverage might create additional demand for viewership.