Amazon and Netflix Are Winning: Can Old-School Media Compete?

13 snips

Nov 9, 2025

Guest

Robert Fishman

Guest

Michael Nathanson

Michael Nathanson, founder of MoffettNathanson, and senior analyst Robert Fishman dive into the media industry's fierce competition. They discuss the necessity of global scale for traditional media to stand against giants like Netflix and Amazon. The conversation highlights the potential for a Paramount Skydance merger and whether it could break the cycle of previous mergers failing to deliver shareholder value. They also explore how tech companies reshaped the landscape, leaving legacy media to adapt or risk obsolescence.

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INSIGHT

Scale Is The Core Strategic Goal

Paramount Skydance is pursuing Warner Discovery to reach global streaming scale and compete with Netflix and big tech.
Analysts say scale lets media firms spread streaming costs and compete for global subscribers and ad dollars.

INSIGHT

Advertising Powers Streaming Monetization

Scale helps monetize subscribers both by subscription pricing and increasingly through advertising on connected TV.
Consolidation can capture shifting ad dollars as viewers move from linear TV to streaming platforms.

INSIGHT

Big Tech Reset The Rules

Big tech (Amazon, Google/YouTube, Netflix) changed the playing field by adding scale and global reach that traditional media lacks.
Michael Nathanson argues media firms must build global scale across price points and content types to survive.

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In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-host Telis Demos and guest host Miriam Gottfried discuss the Supreme Court case challenging President Trump's reciprocal tariffs and how that’s playing out in the markets. Next, they look at affordability as the winning message from recent elections, such as Zohran Mamdani’s successful campaign to be the next mayor of New York City. Plus, they explore the recent drama in the private credit market after executives at Blackstone downplayed the “cockroach” fears sparked by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

After the break, Miriam is joined by Michael Nathanson and Robert Fishman, senior media analysts at MoffettNathanson, to break down the potential Paramount Skydance and Warner Discovery merger. First, the analysts explain why global scale is a necessity for traditional media companies to compete with Disney, and big tech giants like Netflix, Amazon and Google’s YouTube. Later, the analysts discuss whether a merger will follow historical examples and fail to generate value for shareholders or whether this time truly is different.

This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Gunjan Banerji, lead writer for Live Markets, and Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead.

Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com.

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