Study: Media Cross-Sector Plays on Rise

The vast majority of telecommunication, media and entertainment (TME) executives in the US, Europe and Asia (84 percent) expect to see more cross-sector mergers and acquisitions in the next two years as companies converge beyond their core businesses, a survey of 100 senior technology executives has found. The forecasted activities include cable operators creating quadruple plays of TV, broadband, fixed and mobile telephony, and technology companies like Apple and Amazon offering products and services far beyond their original businesses, according to the survey, conducted by Mergermarket on behalf of law firm Reed Smith.

Among the key findings: Entertainment companies are the most willing to reach beyond the core, with 33 percent planning to make a non-entertainment purchase, and cross-sector also increasingly means cross-border, with 67 percent saying their next purchase was likely to be outside their home country. And all that merging comes with a price: 23 percent of the respondents said they expect increased convergence "to drive creative disruption for business models in the technology and media/entertainment sectors."