A Different Deal Mania Grips TV

[Commentary] After years of small-bore shifting and tweaking by media companies in an effort to stay in front of consumers, big deals are back on the table.

Using relatively cheap capital, companies in dire need of diversification away from wounded businesses like print are going shopping. “It’s time to gobble or get gobbled,” a media analyst said. Business people could not be blamed for thinking that they had seen this movie before. Someone blows a whistle in a particular media space and suddenly a company is either a hunter or the hunted. Rhetoric heats up, as do prices, and before you know it investment bankers are racking up fees, reporters finally have deals to cover and moguls are in full frolic.