The former WarnerMedia CEO is making big predictions about the streaming merger

Jason Keilar has a long career in entertainment, having previously served as founding CEO of Hulu, then senior vice president at Amazon and then CEO of WarnerMedia, he’s seen it all. After the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, his time on the WB is over and since he’s been a free agent. In a new editorial he wrote The Wall Street Journal However, Kilar has turned his expertise toward the future and made a series of predictions about what the warp landscape could look like in the future, and they’re pretty exciting… though still plausible.

First, Keilar predicts that given the thresholds required for streaming services to maintain profitability, and taking into account consumers’ interest in obtaining subscriptions, he believes that “it is unlikely that more than three global entertainment companies will achieve the scale of the required streaming service.” According to Keilar, this requirement is the basis for “300 million global subscriptions averaging $15 per month,” something that no streaming software currently has. Currently, Netflix is ​​the largest with over 223 million, followed by Disney+ with 164 million, and then 94.9 million subscribers combined between Warner Bros. and Disney. Discovery’s HBO Max and Discovery+ (which will soon merge).

Assuming that’s the case, Keilar then expects “two or three major mergers and/or acquisitions involving entertainment companies” within the next two years. That’s not far fetched anyway considering Disney’s acquisition of Fox, and AT&T’s acquisition of Warner Bros. , then Discovery acquired Warner Bros. All this over the past six years. Media companies that sell themselves for high price points are more attractive than ever, especially when Disney managed to snap up the likes of Marvel and Lucasfilm for $4 billion each more than a decade ago.

Kilar believes that with these potential mergers on the table, which means mega-sized streaming platforms, “cash outflow from the flagships will eventually be in excess of $10 billion annually,” a figure that’s pretty unfathomable for streaming platforms. Live broadcast at the moment. It’s not just about streaming, Kilar also points out that digital platforms from the same companies will also become huge revenue generators, describing them as “true digital customer relationships” which could be big in the future.

Kilar’s range of other predictions includes sports and feature film theatrical exhibition. The former WarnerMedia CEO believes that eventually sports leagues will insist on “dual distribution of every game via cable package and over-the-air,” which would no doubt be attractive to consumers but could lead to more cord-cutting. In terms of films, Keilar believes that the film’s “exclusive theatrical window” could become “at consumer demand,” suggesting that “the film’s exclusive run in US theaters will remain in place as long as the weekly box office remains above $5 million.” “

Assuming this happens, which companies do you think might be bought by others? Could the rumors of Apple buying Disney come to fruition? Will Netflix team up with another studio? Take your best guesses below.

(Cover image by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)

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