Timeline of TV & Film Industry Consolidation

Paramount’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. represents another major consolidation of American media ownership. Matt Baker presents the deal as the latest development in a history of studio mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructuring stretching back to Hollywood’s beginnings. The transaction is described as expected rather than fully completed.

The first movie made in Hollywood was In Old California, released in 1910. Produced by the Biograph Company, it was a silent film because synchronized sound technology had not yet been perfected.

Biograph was the leading American silent-film producer before Hollywood became the industry's center. Most of its films had previously been produced in New York, where much of the early American film business was concentrated.

Hollywood became the center of American filmmaking during the 1910s. Several production companies established operations there, gradually shifting the industry's geographic center away from New York.

Many surviving Hollywood studios originated through mergers of silent-film companies. Biograph itself disappeared, but several competing businesses survived by combining their production, distribution, and exhibition operations.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) was formed in 1924 through the merger of three studios. The Loews theater chain purchased Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures and combined them into MGM.

20th Century Fox emerged from the merger of Fox Film and 20th Century Pictures. The studio's name reflected the combination of two previously separate filmmaking businesses.

Paramount originated through the combination of Famous Players, the Jesse Lasky Company, and a distribution business called Paramount. Initially operating as Famous Players-Lasky, the combined business eventually adopted the Paramount name.

Paramount traces its founding to May 8, 1912. This was the establishment date of Famous Players, one of its predecessor companies.

Universal Pictures is considered the oldest surviving Hollywood film studio. Universal was founded on April 30, 1912, approximately one week before Famous Players.

Columbia Pictures originated as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn. The company began during the silent-film era before adopting the Columbia Pictures name.

Warner Bros. was founded by four brothers from the Warner family. Unlike several other major studios created through mergers, its origins were directly connected to the founding brothers.

Many of Hollywood's most influential founding businessmen were Jewish. Baker identifies Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer, Marcus Loew, William Fox, Adolph Zukor, Jesse Lasky, Carl Laemmle, Joe Brandt, the Cohn brothers, and the four Warner brothers among the Jewish entrepreneurs who helped establish the industry.

Discrimination in established American industries contributed to Jewish entrepreneurs entering filmmaking. Baker explains that many Jewish immigrants faced employment barriers and consequently pursued businesses they could establish themselves.

The early film industry offered opportunities because it was new and not yet especially profitable. Established businesses had not fully occupied the market, allowing newcomers to create companies that eventually became major studios.

Jewish influence in Hollywood's founding does not establish Jewish control of the modern industry. Baker distinguishes the historical backgrounds of individual founders from present-day corporate ownership, arguing that multinational corporations with more diverse leadership teams now control most major studios.

Warner Bros. eventually acquired First National. First National had controlled rights to several films starring Charlie Chaplin, one of the silent era's most successful performers.

Charlie Chaplin helped establish United Artists to give filmmakers greater independence. The company was founded with actors Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks and director D. W. Griffith.

United Artists brought together several of early Hollywood's most influential creative figures. Pickford and Fairbanks were leading actors who married each other, while Griffith was known for directing the controversial film The Birth of a Nation.

United Artists challenged the traditional studio model by giving creative talent greater control over films. Its founding reflected an effort by prominent actors and directors to reduce dependence on established production companies.

Joseph P. Kennedy, father of President John F. Kennedy, became involved in Hollywood through FBO Pictures. FBO stood for Film Booking Offices, an early film business that eventually contributed to the formation of RKO.

RKO was created by combining FBO with businesses connected to vaudeville entertainment. Kennedy helped bring these operations together, linking film production with established theatrical entertainment companies.

RKO's name reflected its connections to radio and vaudeville. The initials referred to Radio, Keith, and Orpheum, with Keith and Orpheum representing two vaudeville businesses.

Vaudeville was a major form of popular entertainment before movies became dominant. Performances combined singing, dancing, comedy, and other live acts into affordable theatrical programs.

Early Hollywood recruited performers from the vaudeville industry. Many pioneering film actors had developed their careers in live entertainment before transitioning to motion pictures.

Warner Bros. helped launch the talking-picture era with The Jazz Singer in 1927. The film incorporated spoken dialogue and demonstrated the commercial possibilities of synchronized sound.

The transition from silent films to talking pictures happened gradually. Studios continued producing both formats for several years while adapting their technology and production methods.

The transition to sound overlapped with Hollywood's pre-Code era. This period preceded the full enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934, giving filmmakers greater freedom over certain subjects and dialogue.

The Hays Code imposed restrictions on Hollywood film content. Its rules prohibited profanity and sexually explicit material, among other categories of content considered unacceptable under the industry's production standards.

By 1934, talking pictures had largely replaced silent films. Baker identifies this transition as one of the developments marking the beginning of Hollywood's classical golden age.

Hollywood's classical golden age extended across the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Many of the films now associated with classical Hollywood were produced during this period, particularly its famous black-and-white productions.

Eight major studios dominated Hollywood during its classical period. The five largest were MGM, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros., and RKO.

Disney was not initially considered one of Hollywood's major studios. During the classical period, its business remained concentrated primarily on animation rather than the wider range of productions handled by the established studios.

The classical Hollywood studio system relied heavily on exclusive actor contracts. Performers commonly worked for one production company rather than negotiating independently across competing studios.

MGM's contracted stars included Greta Garbo and Clark Gable. Their association with the studio illustrates how major performers were identified with particular production companies.

20th Century Fox's stars included Shirley Temple and Marilyn Monroe. Both became prominent examples of the studio system's relationship between performers and production companies.

Paramount was associated with Mae West and Bob Hope, while Warner Bros. employed Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. These contractual relationships helped individual studios develop recognizable groups of stars.

RKO's stars included Fred Astaire and Katharine Hepburn, both of whom later worked at MGM. Their careers demonstrate that performers could eventually move between studios even within the contract-based system.

Cary Grant and James Stewart were notable exceptions to the exclusive-contract model. Their success allowed them to operate as freelance actors rather than remaining tied to a single studio.

Major Hollywood studios once controlled both film production and theater exhibition. By owning theater chains, they could profit from making films and from the cinemas where audiences watched them.

Studio-owned theaters offered financial advantages through exclusive premieres. Ownership of exhibition venues gave production companies additional control over film distribution and revenue.

Block booking forced independent theaters to purchase less desirable films alongside major releases. Studios used the popularity of successful productions to sell packages containing other titles.

The 1948 Paramount Decree fundamentally changed Hollywood's business structure. The U.S. Supreme Court prohibited block booking and required major studios to separate their film-production operations from theater ownership.

MGM and Loews were forced to separate under the new antitrust restrictions. Their division illustrated the end of the vertically integrated business model that had supported much of classical Hollywood.

The Supreme Court's intervention weakened the traditional studio system, but television created an additional competitive threat. Baker identifies the growing popularity of television as a decisive factor in ending Hollywood's classical era.

Radio introduced home-based broadcast entertainment before television became widespread. Unlike films, which required audiences to visit cinemas, radio programs could be transmitted over the air directly into households.

NBC was the first major American broadcasting company. It initially operated two interconnected radio networks, NBC Red and NBC Blue.

NBC Red carried the network's major commercially sponsored programming. It was the primary network for popular shows supported by advertisers.

NBC Blue initially offered a different programming model. Baker describes it as a secondary, largely commercial-free network emphasizing news and educational content.

CBS emerged as NBC's major broadcasting competitor approximately one year later. The Columbia Broadcasting System was separate from Columbia Pictures despite sharing the Columbia name.

The Mutual Broadcasting System was another important early radio network. Originally organized as a cooperative, it never successfully became a television network and eventually disappeared during the 1990s.

Federal intervention forced NBC to sell its Blue Network in 1943. Regulators were concerned about NBC's excessive control over American radio broadcasting.

NBC Blue became the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Its separation established the three businesses that would later dominate American television: NBC, CBS, and ABC.

NBC began over-the-air television broadcasting in 1939. CBS followed in 1941, while ABC began television broadcasts in 1948.

Radio and television operated alongside each other for years. The major broadcasting companies did not immediately abandon radio when television technology became available.

Television became the principal focus of the major networks during the mid-1950s. By then, most American households owned television sets, making the medium commercially central.

DuMont attempted to establish a fourth television network. Unlike NBC, CBS, and ABC, DuMont began directly in television rather than developing from an existing radio network.

DuMont ceased operating around the time American television ownership became widespread. Its disappearance prevented the emergence of a lasting fourth competitor during television's initial growth period.

NBC, CBS, and ABC dominated American television from the mid-1950s until the late 1980s. During this period, most programming reached viewers through over-the-air broadcasting rather than the much larger selection later available through cable.

A 1970 regulatory change restricted television networks from owning their prime-time programming. The policy was intended to limit the economic power of the three dominant broadcasters and encourage independent television production.

The prime-time ownership restrictions helped create new media businesses. One important result was the 1971 separation of Viacom from CBS.

Viacom began as a CBS spin-off before becoming a major independent entertainment company. Its later acquisitions would eventually reconnect it with CBS and Paramount.

The prime-time ownership restrictions were eventually removed. Their repeal helped make later combinations of broadcasters and production companies possible.

Major television networks broadly transitioned to color programming around 1966. The technological shift occurred on the broadcasting side before color televisions became standard household equipment.

Most American households did not own a color television until the mid-1970s. Consequently, the network transition to color preceded widespread consumer access by almost a decade.

Hollywood's major studios faced widespread financial pressure during the 1950s. Television competition and the breakdown of the traditional studio system forced many established production companies to reduce their operations.

RKO eventually ceased film production and sold most of its library to United Artists. Although the original studio disappeared, ownership of its films continued passing between other companies.

Warner Bros. sold its pre-1950 film library to raise money. The studio continued making new movies but transferred its older films to Associated Artists.

United Artists subsequently acquired the Warner Bros. library from Associated Artists. This brought a substantial collection of Warner films under the same corporate ownership as much of RKO's catalog.

MGM eventually acquired United Artists, including its accumulated film rights. These transactions meant that MGM's library came to include films originally produced by several historically separate studios.

The New Hollywood era began around 1967. Baker identifies this period as the Hollywood Renaissance, marking a substantial change in the industry's creative leadership and production practices.

Only six traditional major studios remained by the beginning of New Hollywood. Disney had also expanded considerably and was becoming a more significant competitor.

A new generation of filmmakers replaced the directors associated with Hollywood's earliest decades. Baker considers this generational change one of the principal reasons for treating the late 1960s as the beginning of a distinct filmmaking era.

The increasing use of color contributed to Hollywood's transformation. The technological change accompanied broader developments in filmmaking styles, production practices, and audience expectations.

The Hays Code was replaced by a film-rating system in 1968. Instead of relying on the earlier production restrictions, movies were classified using ratings including G, PG, R, and X.

New Hollywood coincided with the emergence of important independent production companies. Baker identifies New Line Cinema, Lucasfilm, Orion Pictures, TriStar Pictures, and Castle Rock Entertainment as notable examples.

Several independent studios established during this period later became acquisition targets. Their importance extended beyond the films they produced because their catalogs and production businesses eventually became assets of larger media companies.

Cable television existed as early as the 1940s. Its original purpose included delivering television signals to remote locations where conventional broadcasting reception was unreliable.

New York City's growing skyline helped accelerate the development of urban cable television. Tall buildings interfered with broadcast reception, creating demand for physical connections that could deliver reliable television signals.

Sports programming was an important early attraction for urban cable customers. Hardwired distribution allowed residents to receive broadcasts more consistently than conventional antennas.

The possibility of distributing movies through cable led to the creation of HBO. Home Box Office developed as a service delivering films directly to subscribers through cable television systems.

Time Inc., the publisher of Time magazine, acquired HBO. The acquisition brought a growing television business under the ownership of an established publishing company.

HBO helped connect local cable networks into a larger distribution system using satellites. This allowed programming to reach cable operators across different cities and contributed to the development of modern cable television.

Cable television transformed American broadcasting from a market dominated by three networks into one offering hundreds of channels. This expansion created opportunities for specialized programming businesses covering news, sports, movies, music, and children's entertainment.

Ted Turner became one of the most influential figures in the expansion of American cable television. He established TBS in 1976 and launched CNN in 1980.

CNN helped establish continuous television news as a major cable programming category. Its success later encouraged competing media companies to launch their own dedicated news channels.

Turner acquired MGM primarily to obtain its valuable film library. He purchased the studio and subsequently sold the production business while retaining the rights to its existing catalog.

The MGM library Turner obtained contained films from multiple historical studios. It included MGM productions, United Artists films, much of RKO's catalog, and Warner Bros. films produced before 1950.

Turner's acquisition demonstrated the commercial value of owning older entertainment content. Historical films could be reused across new distribution channels rather than generating revenue only during their original theatrical releases.

Turner used his film library to support additional cable channels. His growing media business included TNT and Cartoon Network, which benefited from access to established entertainment content.

Turner also acquired New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment. These purchases expanded his business beyond television distribution and historical film libraries into additional production operations.

By the mid-1990s, Turner had become one of America's most powerful media owners. His interests included cable networks, a substantial film library, and film production companies.

Rupert Murdoch pursued a different strategy by creating a fourth national broadcast television network. Rather than concentrating exclusively on cable, he sought to compete directly with NBC, CBS, and ABC.

Murdoch acquired assets formerly associated with the defunct DuMont television network. These assets contributed to his effort to establish another national broadcasting business.

Murdoch also purchased 20th Century Fox to support his television expansion. The acquisition gave him an established film studio and provided the name for the new Fox television network.

Fox launched in 1986 as America's fourth major commercial broadcast network. It challenged the longstanding dominance of NBC, CBS, and ABC.

Fox differed from the cable channels emerging during the same period. It was primarily an over-the-air broadcast network, although many households eventually received Fox through cable systems.

Fox News launched in 1996 as a competitor in cable news. Its establishment followed the demonstrated popularity of CNN's dedicated news programming.

NBC and Microsoft jointly launched MSNBC in 1996. The channel's name reflected the partnership between Microsoft and NBC.

Microsoft eventually withdrew from MSNBC. The channel continued operating after the original technology-company partnership ended.

HBO and Warner Bros. became part of Time Warner in 1990. Their combination joined a major premium cable business with one of Hollywood's oldest production companies.

Time Warner acquired Turner's media businesses in 1996. Baker describes the resulting company as the world's largest media conglomerate at that time.

The Turner acquisition reunited Warner Bros. with its pre-1950 film library. Warner had sold those films decades earlier, but subsequent transactions eventually returned the catalog to the corporate group.

ESPN launched in 1979 and became one of cable television's most important sports businesses. ABC acquired ESPN in 1984, establishing a relationship that would later become important to Disney's media holdings.

MTV became a major cultural influence during the 1980s and 1990s. Music Television was particularly important among teenagers and young adults, demonstrating the influence of specialized cable programming.

Nickelodeon emerged as a pioneering dedicated children's television channel. Its success demonstrated the commercial potential of programming designed specifically for younger audiences.

MTV and Nickelodeon both originated from projects associated with Warner. The channels were subsequently transferred to Viacom, the company previously separated from CBS.

Viacom expanded from television programming into major film-studio ownership. After acquiring MTV and Nickelodeon, the company eventually purchased Paramount.

Disney acquired ABC in 1996, combining a major broadcast network with an established film studio. Baker identifies this as the first combination of one of America's original three major television networks with a major Hollywood studio.

Disney's ABC acquisition also brought ESPN into its corporate structure. The transaction gave Disney a combination of film production, broadcast television, and sports programming.

CBS and Paramount were reunited through the CBS–Viacom merger in 1999. This brought another original major television network together with an established Hollywood studio.

NBC and Universal combined in 2004. Their merger completed a series of major combinations linking the three original national television networks with important film studios.

The three combinations established major relationships between broadcasting and filmmaking. Disney was paired with ABC, Paramount with CBS, and Universal with NBC.

Sony entered Hollywood's major-studio business by acquiring Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures. These acquisitions established Sony Pictures as another major film production company.

Sony's acquisitions preserved Columbia and TriStar within a larger corporate organization. Their production businesses became part of Sony's wider international entertainment operations.

VHS technology created a new way for consumers to watch films at home. Developed during the 1970s, videotapes became mainstream during the 1980s.

Blockbuster emerged during the VHS expansion and became America's leading movie-rental company. The business built its position around consumer access to prerecorded films.

DVDs began replacing VHS during the second half of the 1990s. Baker states that DVDs surpassed VHS in film sales and rentals within approximately five years of their introduction.

Netflix was founded in 1997 as a DVD rental company. Its original business involved sending physical discs to customers through the mail rather than streaming movies online.

Netflix entered streaming in 2007. Baker identifies the company as the first major streaming service, marking a new stage in the evolution of home entertainment.

Amazon Video on Demand and Hulu followed Netflix into streaming. Hulu was established as a joint venture involving multiple media companies.

Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu dominated the early mainstream streaming market. Baker describes these three services as the principal competitors for approximately a decade before the next major expansion of streaming platforms.

YouTube followed a different entertainment model from the major streaming services. It concentrated more heavily on independent creators rather than primarily distributing professionally produced television and film catalogs.

The streaming market expanded substantially around 2020. Established entertainment companies increasingly launched their own platforms while continuing to acquire or consolidate media assets.

The expansion of streaming occurred alongside further concentration of media ownership. More consumer-facing platforms did not necessarily mean more independent owners of the underlying entertainment companies and content libraries.

Baker predicts that the proposed Paramount–Warner Bros. combination would leave three exceptionally large American media groups alongside five medium-sized competitors. His classification depends on the proposed acquisition being completed.

Comcast became a major entertainment owner through its acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011. Previously known primarily as a cable television and internet provider, Comcast gained control of a major television network and film studio.

Comcast's ownership of NBCUniversal gives it businesses across several entertainment sectors. These include broadcast television, movie production, cable programming, animation, and streaming.

Comcast controls the animation studio Illumination. Illumination is known for producing the Despicable Me franchise.

Comcast also owns DreamWorks Animation. DreamWorks is associated with major animated franchises including Shrek.

Woody Woodpecker has been associated with Universal since the 1940s. Baker selects the character as his visual representative of Comcast because of that historical connection.

Universal's major entertainment properties include Wicked and Jurassic Park. These franchises add to the value of Comcast's film and entertainment holdings.

Universal Monsters is one of Hollywood's oldest continuing franchise collections. Baker traces the franchise's origins to 1913 and identifies Dracula and Frankenstein among its associated characters.

Universal's rights extend to particular visual depictions of classic monster characters. Baker explains that other companies sometimes use different character designs because Universal controls rights associated with specific established portrayals.

Comcast launched Peacock in 2020 as its streaming service. The platform's name references NBC's peacock logo.

Baker describes Peacock as relatively weak in streaming popularity. Despite Comcast's extensive film and television holdings, he places the platform near the lower end of the major services by audience popularity.

Comcast announced plans to separate most of its cable television assets into a company called Versant. Baker describes the restructuring as a recent development that would move several established cable businesses outside Comcast's main entertainment organization.

MSNBC was included among the businesses associated with the Versant restructuring. Baker states that the channel had been rebranded as MS Now.

Disney's modern media portfolio extends far beyond its original animation business. Its ownership of ABC and ESPN combines traditional broadcasting and sports with its film and television franchises.

Disney acquired Pixar in 2006. Pixar was already known for successful animated films including Toy Story and Cars.

Pixar originally developed as a division of Lucasfilm. This historical connection meant that Disney eventually acquired two companies that had previously been part of the same business.

Disney purchased Marvel in 2009. The acquisition brought a major collection of superhero characters and entertainment properties under Disney's ownership.

Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. The transaction gave Disney control of Star Wars and other Lucasfilm entertainment assets.

Marvel and Lucasfilm gave Disney control of two exceptionally valuable live-action film franchises. Baker identifies the Avengers and Star Wars as the two most profitable live-action movie franchises.

Disney acquired rights to Winnie the Pooh in 1961. Baker identifies Winnie the Pooh as Disney's most valuable entertainment asset after Mickey Mouse, illustrating the long-term importance of established characters.

Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019. The transaction added another historically major Hollywood film studio to Disney's portfolio.

The 2019 Fox acquisition did not include the Fox broadcast network or Fox News. Those businesses remained outside Disney's ownership.

Disney's Fox acquisition included National Geographic Channel. Fox had acquired National Geographic Channel in 2015, placing the property within the assets subsequently transferred to Disney.

Disney+ serves as a major distribution platform for Disney's accumulated entertainment properties. Its content portfolio draws from Disney's original productions and its acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Fox.

Disney also obtained a controlling stake in Hulu. Baker expects Hulu programming to become increasingly integrated into Disney+, further consolidating the company's streaming operations.

CBS and Paramount separated again in 2005 after their 1999 combination. Paramount became part of the reorganized Viacom business, while CBS operated independently.

CBS and Viacom reunited in 2019. The transaction eventually brought their combined entertainment holdings under the Paramount Global name.

Skydance subsequently acquired Paramount Global. The transaction introduced a new controlling business into the ownership history of Paramount and CBS.

Skydance was founded by David Ellison. Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, whom Baker describes as America's second-richest person at the time of the presentation, behind Elon Musk.

David Ellison pursued Warner Bros. as a major acquisition target. Baker describes Ellison as particularly determined to obtain the company.

Ellison's Paramount-backed effort reportedly defeated a competing bid from Netflix for Warner Bros. Baker places the development approximately one week before the presentation and treats completion of the transaction as expected.

The proposed acquisition would give Paramount control of a second historically major film studio. Combining Paramount and Warner Bros. would concentrate two substantial Hollywood production businesses under the same owner.

The transaction would also expand Paramount's television holdings. CNN and HBO are identified as two of the most important additional businesses associated with Warner Bros.

The future organizational arrangements for CNN and HBO were unresolved. Baker states that it remained unclear how these businesses would be incorporated into Paramount's existing operations.

Warner Bros. would bring the Harry Potter franchise into Paramount's proposed entertainment portfolio. The acquisition would place one of the world's most recognizable film properties alongside Paramount's established franchises.

The proposed Warner Bros. acquisition would also bring major fantasy television and film properties. Baker identifies The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones among the valuable franchises associated with the target company.

DC Comics would become another significant component of Paramount's proposed holdings. Its superhero characters include Batman, giving the combined company a major comic-book entertainment business.

Paramount already controlled Star Trek before pursuing Warner Bros. The existing science-fiction franchise would complement the film and television properties obtained through the proposed acquisition.

Paramount also owned Nickelodeon's collection of children's entertainment properties. These franchises provided an established family-entertainment business that could be expanded through Warner Bros. assets.

The proposed combination would bring additional animation properties together. Nickelodeon would sit alongside Looney Tunes and Cartoon Network-related content within the same corporate group.

Paramount+ could become the primary streaming destination for the combined company's entertainment catalog. Baker expects Warner Bros. properties eventually to be incorporated into Paramount's streaming platform, although he does not identify a confirmed integration plan.

Paramount and Disney could emerge as particularly strong direct competitors. Baker argues that their accumulated franchises and entertainment businesses increasingly resemble one another.

The proposed Paramount portfolio would include Star Trek, while Disney owns Star Wars. Both companies would control prominent science-fiction franchises with established audiences and long histories.

DC Comics and Marvel would provide competing superhero portfolios. Paramount's proposed ownership of DC would place its characters against Disney's Marvel properties.

Children's entertainment would become another major competitive category. Paramount would combine Nickelodeon, Looney Tunes, and Cartoon Network-related properties, while Disney would continue operating its Disney Channel and established animation franchises.

Discovery and National Geographic would represent another point of competition. Baker identifies Discovery within the proposed Paramount–Warner business and National Geographic within Disney's portfolio.

The Disney–Paramount rivalry would extend beyond individual movies. Both companies would possess combinations of broadcast networks, film studios, television channels, established franchises, and streaming services.

Fox remained independent after Disney acquired most of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets. Its broadcast television and news businesses were not part of the Disney transaction.

Fox established its own streaming platform, Fox One. The service gives the remaining Fox business a direct-to-consumer distribution operation separate from Disney's streaming platforms.

Netflix remained an independent major streaming competitor despite losing the Warner Bros. bidding contest. Baker identifies Netflix as the most popular streaming service in the United States at the time of the presentation.

Netflix's most valuable entertainment franchise was identified as Stranger Things. Baker uses the series as an example of the company's principal original-content assets.

Sony remains a major Hollywood studio owner through Sony Pictures. Its business includes Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures, acquired during earlier periods of industry consolidation.

Sony offers a streaming service called Sony Pictures Core. Baker describes it as available through selected Sony products, including PlayStation consoles, Sony televisions, and Sony phones.

Sony controls the film rights to Spider-Man despite Disney owning Marvel. The separation results from Marvel's decision to sell Spider-Man's film rights to Sony in 1999, before Disney acquired Marvel.

Spider-Man illustrates how entertainment rights can remain divided after corporate acquisitions. Disney's ownership of Marvel did not automatically transfer the film rights previously sold to Sony.

MGM continued operating after Turner acquired its historical film library. Although Turner obtained rights to much of MGM's output through 1986, MGM survived as a smaller production company.

Turner's MGM transaction separated historical content ownership from the continuing studio business. The company could produce new films even though much of its earlier catalog had passed to another owner.

MGM acquired Orion Pictures in 1997. The transaction brought another independent production company's assets into MGM's smaller, continuing business.

Amazon acquired MGM in 2021. The purchase gave Amazon ownership of one of the original major Hollywood studios, although MGM no longer held its former position of industry dominance.

James Bond was identified as MGM's most valuable remaining movie franchise. The property became an especially important asset within Amazon's acquired entertainment business.

Amazon's MGM acquisition illustrates the expansion of technology companies into traditional Hollywood ownership. Rather than relying exclusively on licensing existing films, Amazon acquired a historical studio and its associated entertainment properties.

Apple operates its own streaming service, Apple TV. Baker includes Apple among the significant businesses participating in modern film and television distribution.

Apple's enormous overall corporate size does not translate into equally extensive media ownership. Baker emphasizes that Apple remains primarily a technology company and controls fewer major entertainment properties than several traditional media conglomerates.

Apple owns rights associated with the Peanuts franchise. Baker identifies the characters as one of Apple's notable entertainment properties.

The American film and television industry has repeatedly shifted between new competition and renewed consolidation. Hollywood studios emerged through early mergers, broadcasting became concentrated in national networks, cable introduced many new channels, and streaming created new distribution competitors.

Changes in distribution technology repeatedly altered the commercial value of existing entertainment libraries. Films originally produced for theaters subsequently generated value through television, cable, VHS, DVD, and streaming.

Acquiring established characters and franchises has become a recurring strategy for large entertainment companies. Disney's purchases of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Fox, Turner's MGM library acquisition, and Paramount's proposed Warner Bros. transaction demonstrate the importance of controlling existing intellectual property.

Ownership of a studio does not necessarily mean ownership of everything the studio historically produced. The separate histories of MGM's older films, Warner Bros.' pre-1950 catalog, and Spider-Man's film rights demonstrate how intellectual property can remain with different companies after mergers or sales.

The proposed Paramount–Warner Bros. combination would further concentrate major American entertainment properties. If completed as described, it would combine substantial film libraries, production operations, cable networks, and franchises under a single corporate group.

The central development identified by Baker is the growing concentration of American entertainment ownership. Despite the appearance of more channels, services, and distribution technologies, the underlying studios, franchises, and content libraries have increasingly become controlled by a smaller number of large corporations.