Media predictions for 2026 from 16 anonymous leaders

It’s time for everyone’s favorite holiday tradition: the anonymous annual predictions from CNBC media executives!

CNBC spoke with 16 of the most powerful and influential executives in U.S. media, sports and entertainment, all of whom offered a prediction for the year ahead, on condition of anonymity so they could speak freely and make bold bets.

This year, we are dividing the forecasts into three categories: M&A forecasts, sports forecasts and miscellaneous. Before we begin, a few mentions of last year’s list. (You can find the full list here.)

A leader predicted Comcast would acquire the studio and streaming assets of Discovery of Warner Bros. and merge them with NBCUniversal. Close! Comcast made a bid for these assets, but WBD ultimately chose a bid from Netflix. He now faces a hostile offer from Paramount Skydance. You’ll learn more about this in this year’s forecast, as you can imagine.

Another executive predicted that 2025 would see several TV channel mergers, and it sort of did – Tegna And Nextstar announced an agreement, and Sinclair launched a so far unsuccessful hostile bid to acquire Electronic warfare scripts.

Yet another guessed that a major tech company would acquire a video game maker Electronic arts. Not bad. The buyer wasn’t big tech, but EA sold to a consortium led by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and private equity firm Silver Lake.

And last year, one executive pretty much succeeded. They said sports streaming service Venu would never launch (it didn’t), and that Fox would license its sports content to Disney ESPN (Fox launched a package with ESPN for $39.99 per month that combines sports programming from both companies for those who stream).

Without further ado, here is this year’s list:

Executive 1: Paramount will buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery

I had to eliminate this one. This executive predicted that Paramount would eventually convince WBD’s board to abandon its deal with Netflix and sell the entire company to the Ellison family and its backers.

Executive 2: Apple will buy NBCUniversal

Now we’re getting bold! This executive predicted that while Comcast CEO Brian Roberts loves the media business and wants to own and control a combined NBCU-WBD company, he will have to accept that with Warner Bros. out of the picture, there is simply no deal left for him. This executive declared Apple both want and need to expand in media to stay relevant, and NBCU is the best price available.

Frankly, it’s just nice to hear an Apple M&A prediction that isn’t Disney’s.

Executive 3: Amazon or YouTube will buy NBCUniversal assets

Along the same lines, this executive said WBD would set a new, higher EBITDA multiple for media assets. That could lead Roberts to sell NBCU now — or at least Peacock and Universal, NBCU’s streaming and studio assets. This executive hedged his prediction, however, and said the theme parks may or may not be part of a sale.

To avoid potential antitrust questions, this executive speculated that a technology company could be allowed to run a broadcast network like NBC if NBC’s owned-and-operated stations were sold separately.

Executive 4: Paramount will lose WBD, divest CBS and buy NBCUniversal

Yes, a deal involving NBCU was very popular this cycle. If Paramount doesn’t end up with WBD, it needs a backup plan to gain scale. NBCUniversal and Peacock would be a nice consolation prize, but regulators certainly wouldn’t allow Paramount to own both CBS and NBC. So, this executive guessed that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison would part ways with CBS (more on CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss later) and keep NBC to entice Roberts to sell.

Executive 5: Comcast will buy Roku

Not so fast to sell NBCU, this executive said. Comcast still has another decision to make. Roku has a market capitalization of approximately $16 billion. It’s a move Roberts can make to bring Comcast into national video distribution while adding Roku’s media assets to NBCU.

Executive 6: Paramount will lose WBD and buy Main Street Sports

Here’s an interesting one: This executive predicted that Paramount would acquire the company formerly known as Diamond Sports Group. That would make Paramount the owner of 15 regional sports networks (and partial owner of the YES Network), another way to further Ellison’s sports aspirations.

Executive 7: Men’s March Madness and College Football Playoff to expand next year

This isn’t the boldest prediction on the list, but perhaps the best chance of coming to fruition. The NCAA is considering increasing the number of men’s teams in the tournament from 68 to 76. The CFP could expand from 12 to 16 teams — or maybe even more. This executive thinks this will happen in 2026.

Executive 8: NFL to sign new extended agreements with current media partners

Much ink has been spilled about the competitive threats that YouTube and Netflix pose to traditional media companies. The epitome of this threat is to take live NFL games away from broadcasters and ESPN.

This executive predicted that the NFL would ensure that doesn’t happen by extending contracts with CBS, NBC, ABC/ESPN and Fox into 2026. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC in September that he was ready to begin those renewal negotiations as early as next year.

Executive 9: Amazon will acquire a new international NFL package

Goodell talked about expanding the league’s international matches to 16 per season involving all 32 teams. This executive estimated that the league would purchase this playset next year from a single buyer, and Amazon Prime Video will complement its Thursday Night Football package with a Sunday package of road games.

Executive 10: NFL’s acceleration of media rights negotiations will push MLB and NHL to also advance their negotiations until 2026

This executive believed there was only so much money to spend on big media companies. Instead of waiting for the NFL to close its deal in 2026 and having to live off what’s left, it might make more sense for the MLB and NHL to stay one step ahead of the NFL in order to maximize the value of media rights.

Executive 11: Traditional media companies will significantly reduce their linear spending on network entertainment to be able to retain the NFL and other sports.

It’s the same logic here in terms of limiting media budgets. This executive predicted that media companies will be forced to cut their non-sports budgets to afford a massive increase coming from the NFL – and the fallout will begin in 2026.

Executive 12: WNBA and MLB to announce lockouts

WNBA collective negotiations are already underway with a new deadline set for January 9. National Women’s Basketball Players Association executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson told CNBC this week that she was frustrated with the pace of discussions.

The MLB collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1, 2026. This executive has predicted that both leagues will experience lockouts as owners and players fail to agree on new collective agreements in time.

Executive 13: Disney to name Josh D’Amaro as next CEO, replacing Bob Iger at the end of the year

You knew there would be a Disney CEO prediction on the list. Disney is expected to name Iger’s successor in early 2026. Josh D’Amaro leads the parks and resorts division and is considered one of two favorites, along with Disney Entertainment co-president Dana Walden.

Executive 14: Marjorie Taylor Greene becomes a member of “The View”

Hey, some of these are ready to go! Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia announced in November that she would resign from Congress effective January 5. His next stop could be ABC’s daytime show “The View,” according to this executive.

Executive 15: Bari Weiss will become the anchor of her own new eponymous CBS News program

CBS News’ Weiss, named editor-in-chief in October, already moderates town halls at the network and promised “many more conversations like this in the weeks and months to come.” This executive predicted that Weiss would use it as a launching pad for her own animated show.

Executive 16: “In 2026, Hollywood will stage a mass boycott of “digital jobs” after discovering that they are irrelevant, senseless and often inaccurate. »

I’m including this one, verbatim, so that the “digital professions” (Puck, The Ankler, etc.) have something to speculate about in their upcoming newsletters and podcast episodes. Which incendiary Hollywood executive made this brash prediction? Free content, from me to you. There you go, it’s a Christmas present!

Happy holidays!

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC in Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.