• by Wayne Friedman , 8 hours ago

Warner Bros. Discovery is the best-performing media stock this year -- up a massive 171% to $28.96 as of December 30.

WBD is in the midst of a takeover/merger battle between Netflix and Paramount Skydance, which has rocketed the price higher.

At the same time, for those pursuing the legacy movie/TV business, there have been small improvements.

Netflix had an up-and-down year in terms of the stock market -- up 6% to $93.78 at year’s end. Paramount Skydance also had ups and downs -- landing with a 15% gain to $13.51.

Like Paramount, other big legacy media companies are still in the midst of a transition period, moving more to streaming from linear TV platforms to compete with companies like Netflix. They posted some slight gains -- or losses.

For example, Walt Disney is up a modest 4% to $114.79. AMC Networks is down 3% to $9.73, while Starz Entertainment has gained 4% to $11.61, and Lions Gate Entertainment is off 2.4% to $8.59.

In addition to WBD, the other major positive standout is Fox Corp. which is now a leaner legacy media company focused on sports programming (the NFL, Major League Baseball) and news content (Fox News Channel, Fox Business). Its stock price is up 41% to $65.39.

Other diversified media companies experienced weakness. Comcast Corp., which owns NBCUniversal with an ongoing plan to split NBCU into two publicly traded companies, has other endemic cable and broadband business issues.

Comcast continues to see flattening revenue results from its broadband business, and with declining linear cable TV network distribution business, its stock is down 20% to $29.97 for the year.

Nexstar Media Group, the biggest owner of over-the-air TV stations, is sharply up 29% to $205.14.

The expectation is that Nexstar will gain more scale and power with the likelihood that the FCC will drop restrictions when it comes to TV station ownership. In August, Nexstar announced its intention to buy midsized TV station group Tegna for $6.2 billion.

On the flip side, Sinclair Inc. is still impacted by its financially plagued Diamond Sports Group, which houses regional sports networks.

DSG filed for bankruptcy in 2023, leaving Sinclair with crushing debt. Sinclair is also hurt by an overall declining core local TV advertising business. Sinclair stock is down 9.3% to $15.41.

By contrast, midsized TV station group Gray Media is up 45% to $4.87 with the projection that it could be acquired by a bigger station group, according to analysis.

Apart from this, the company plans to expand into six new markets through acquisitions and create 11 new Big Four full duopolies.

One positive for all TV station groups is significant political advertising revenue, which is still growing for local TV stations, coming in 2026 due to the midterm political election season.