• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

Sharply higher first-quarter media merger/acquisition deal-making came amid more entertainment and media disruption -- and potential uncertainty around the Trump Administration's global tariffs, according to a new PwC report.

First-quarter deal-making nearly tripled to $34.98 billion versus the same period a year before -- when it totaled $12.2 billion.

The movie and entertainment category also doubled -- $6.4 billion (from $3.9 billion). Sports and live events growth rocketed to $5.7 billion (from $4.4 million in the year-ago period); Interactive home entertainment going to $3.5 billion (from $680.3 million)

Deal-making around cable TV/satellite and broadcasting, interactive media and internet software/services were major growth areas, PwC noted. Major TV-specific deals focused around “consolidations” and “scale-driven efficiency,” according to PwC.

Examples include the merger of two cable-TV centric companies -- Charter Communications' merger with Cox Communications -- to create the second-largest broadband provider after Comcast.

Streaming consolidation came from Disney’s purchase of virtual sports-centric pay TV service Fubo, which will be combined with Disney’s Hulu + Live TV.

Forthcoming deals including Comcast's planned spinoff of nearly all NBCUniversal cable networks into Versant, a new company, as well as Warner Bros. Discovery's similar recent announcement to spin off its cable TV networks amidst declining linear trends.

“Billions of advertising dollars continue to leak out of the traditional linear ecosystem,” Bart Spiegel, partner of media & entertainment, PwC US, writes.

“This trend highlights the ongoing shift of advertising dollars from traditional linear platforms to innovative, interactive channels that focus on user-generated content.”

“The entertainment and media marketplace continues to navigate considerable uncertainty,” he says. “Anticipated regulatory reforms under the current administration have yet to materialize, while the looming threat of tariffs persists. “