# Business & Deals — The State of Streaming

> M&A, earnings, layoffs, exec moves, carriage deals, licensing and distribution.

Section URL: https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/
Articles in this section: 9

## Articles

- [Apple Services Just Posted Its Sixth Straight Record. The Compounder Hides in Plain Sight.](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/05/apple-services-q1-fy26-record-trend/) — 2026-05-04
  A $30.97 billion quarter is the headline. The shape of six consecutive all-time records — and the ad surface buried inside the bundle — is what advertisers should plan against.

- [Charter Lifts Cox Synergies 60% as Comcast Waves Off Cable M&A](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/05/comcast-charter-merger-talks-resurfacing/) — 2026-05-03
  The $800 million synergy raise, not the merger chatter Wall Street can't help itself with, is the data point that tells you what the next leg of cable strategy looks like.

- [DAZN Buys ViewLift After Failing to Buy the RSNs Themselves](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/05/dazn-viewlift-rsn-infrastructure-pivot/) — 2026-05-03
  Four months after talks to acquire Main Street Sports Group collapsed, the global sports streamer pivots from end-consumer destination to the white-label layer powering 15 pro teams' DTC apps.

- [NFL Network Goes Dark on Comcast — Disney's First Carriage Test Since the ESPN-NFL Stake Deal](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/05/nfl-comcast-espn-blackout-first-dispute/) — 2026-05-03
  The 10% NFL stake in ESPN was supposed to align two parties against the distributor. The first time that bet has been priced, Comcast turned off the channel.

- [Fourteen Months Inside Mediaocean's Independent-Stack Bet](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/04/mediaocean-innovid-stack-one-year-in-2/) — 2026-04-27
  Innovid Hypermode hit GA this week. The merger that produced it closed in February 2025; what's actually shipped since is the better tell than the deal itself.

- [Fourteen Months Inside Mediaocean's Independent-Stack Bet](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/04/mediaocean-innovid-stack-one-year-in/) — 2026-04-27
  Innovid Hypermode hit GA this week. The merger that produced it closed in February 2025; what's actually shipped since is the better tell than the deal itself.

- [iHeartMedia, SiriusXM in Early Merger Talks, Bloomberg Says](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/04/iheart-siriusxm-merger-talks/) — 2026-04-26
  Variety and THR confirm via their own sources; Irving Azoff and Apollo Global Management are advising, four days before SiriusXM's Q1 call.

- [Paramount Skydance Pays Ellison and Outgoing President $124M as WBD Holders Reject Zaslav Parachute](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/04/wbd-paramount-merger-followups/) — 2026-04-26
  Friday's SEC filing discloses $63.2M for David Ellison and $60.7M for outgoing president Jeff Shell, the same week the UK CMA invites comment on the merger and WBD's board weighs the rejected $886M exit package.

- [WBD Shareholders Approve Paramount Merger 99% to 1%](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/04/wbd-paramount-shareholder-vote/) — 2026-04-25
  NewFronts open in 12 days, the last cycle buyers will negotiate HBO Max and Paramount+ as separate upfront sellers.