Richard Greenfield
@richlightshed.bsky.social
Partner & TMT Analyst LightShed Partners, GP LightShed Ventures, Media Futurist & Co-Host: The LightShed Podcast.
Sites/Social: https://linktr.ee/richlightshed
Sites/Social: https://linktr.ee/richlightshed
Wickedly Smart or Comcastically Insane?
While the knee jerk reaction is Comcast must be insane to bid this way, we wonder if there is a compelling strategic rationale to their strategy... $CMCSA $WBD
While the knee jerk reaction is Comcast must be insane to bid this way, we wonder if there is a compelling strategic rationale to their strategy... $CMCSA $WBD
Wickedly Smart or Comcastically Insane?
Listen (4:29 mins) On Friday evening, CNBC reporter Alex Sherman tweeted out (link): “Comcast’s bid for WBD’s streaming and studio assets did not include spinning off NBCU.” We have ass…
lightshedtmt.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Wickedly Smart or Comcastically Insane?
While the knee jerk reaction is Comcast must be insane to bid this way, we wonder if there is a compelling strategic rationale to their strategy... $CMCSA $WBD
While the knee jerk reaction is Comcast must be insane to bid this way, we wonder if there is a compelling strategic rationale to their strategy... $CMCSA $WBD
⚡️ Look for Dynamic US Theme Park Pricing to Boost Disney Earnings Growth Next Year ⚡️
Theme Park pricing for a given day could change hourly for any given day in the future as they already do for Disneyland Paris $DIS
Theme Park pricing for a given day could change hourly for any given day in the future as they already do for Disneyland Paris $DIS
Look for Dynamic US Theme Park Pricing to…
Look for Dynamic US Theme Park Pricing to Boost Disney Earnings Growth Next Year Given lackluster domestic attendance trends (down slightly last quarter, trending up slightly this quarter), Disney …
lightshedtmt.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:48 PM
⚡️ Look for Dynamic US Theme Park Pricing to Boost Disney Earnings Growth Next Year ⚡️
Theme Park pricing for a given day could change hourly for any given day in the future as they already do for Disneyland Paris $DIS
Theme Park pricing for a given day could change hourly for any given day in the future as they already do for Disneyland Paris $DIS
The cord-cutting issue nobody is talking about
If @youtubetv launches a sports/news bundle at $70 or less, we expect major problems for a wide array of general entertainment cable networks
If @youtubetv launches a sports/news bundle at $70 or less, we expect major problems for a wide array of general entertainment cable networks
Legacy Media Raises the White Flag, Are the Streaming Wars Over?
Listen (8:42 mins) After we highlighted content ingestion as a critical battleground issue in future MVPD/vMVPD negotiations in September (link), former WarnerMedia CRO, Tony Goncalves, posted the …
lightshedtmt.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:09 PM
The cord-cutting issue nobody is talking about
If @youtubetv launches a sports/news bundle at $70 or less, we expect major problems for a wide array of general entertainment cable networks
If @youtubetv launches a sports/news bundle at $70 or less, we expect major problems for a wide array of general entertainment cable networks
Legacy Media Raises the White Flag, Are the Streaming Wars Over?
"somewhere along the way, the revolution started to look a lot like the thing it was trying to disrupt...Sometimes the 'revolution' just puts new people in charge of the same game"
lightshedtmt.com/2025/11/17/l...
"somewhere along the way, the revolution started to look a lot like the thing it was trying to disrupt...Sometimes the 'revolution' just puts new people in charge of the same game"
lightshedtmt.com/2025/11/17/l...
Legacy Media Raises the White Flag, Are the Streaming Wars Over?
Listen (8:42 mins) After we highlighted content ingestion as a critical battleground issue in future MVPD/vMVPD negotiations in September (link), former WarnerMedia CRO, Tony Goncalves, posted the …
lightshedtmt.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Legacy Media Raises the White Flag, Are the Streaming Wars Over?
"somewhere along the way, the revolution started to look a lot like the thing it was trying to disrupt...Sometimes the 'revolution' just puts new people in charge of the same game"
lightshedtmt.com/2025/11/17/l...
"somewhere along the way, the revolution started to look a lot like the thing it was trying to disrupt...Sometimes the 'revolution' just puts new people in charge of the same game"
lightshedtmt.com/2025/11/17/l...
⚡️ Shockingj 🤣🤣: California Congressman Comes Out Against Netflix/Warner Bros. Merger ⚡️
Even before we find out if Netflix actually bids in the ongoing WBD auction, Congressman Darrell Issa from San Diego, CA has warned of the dangers
$NFLX $WBD $PSKY $CMCSA
Even before we find out if Netflix actually bids in the ongoing WBD auction, Congressman Darrell Issa from San Diego, CA has warned of the dangers
$NFLX $WBD $PSKY $CMCSA
Shocking: California Congressman Comes Out Against Netflix/Warner Bros.…
Shocking: California Congressman Comes Out Against Netflix/Warner Bros. Merger While Netflix has talked about the failure of most large scale media M&A, the press is having a feeding frenzy tal…
lightshedtmt.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:23 PM
⚡️ Shockingj 🤣🤣: California Congressman Comes Out Against Netflix/Warner Bros. Merger ⚡️
Even before we find out if Netflix actually bids in the ongoing WBD auction, Congressman Darrell Issa from San Diego, CA has warned of the dangers
$NFLX $WBD $PSKY $CMCSA
Even before we find out if Netflix actually bids in the ongoing WBD auction, Congressman Darrell Issa from San Diego, CA has warned of the dangers
$NFLX $WBD $PSKY $CMCSA
Ten Paramount Questions for David Ellison's 1st Earnings Call
Since Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount closed on August 7, 2025, the company has outlined its vision and spoken to the press, but tonight marks the first time it has communicated directly with Wall Street.
$PSKY $WBD
Since Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount closed on August 7, 2025, the company has outlined its vision and spoken to the press, but tonight marks the first time it has communicated directly with Wall Street.
$PSKY $WBD
Ten Paramount Questions for David Ellison’s 1st Earnings Call
Listen (6:48 mins) Since Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount closed on August 7, 2025, the company has outlined its vision (link) and spoken to the press, but tonight marks the first time it has co…
lightshedtmt.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Ten Paramount Questions for David Ellison's 1st Earnings Call
Since Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount closed on August 7, 2025, the company has outlined its vision and spoken to the press, but tonight marks the first time it has communicated directly with Wall Street.
$PSKY $WBD
Since Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount closed on August 7, 2025, the company has outlined its vision and spoken to the press, but tonight marks the first time it has communicated directly with Wall Street.
$PSKY $WBD
⚡️ Plot Twist: Why Are Consumers Blaming @espn vs. @YouTubeTV for the Blackout? ⚡️ $DIS $GOOGL
While there are plenty of comments blaming both companies and which YouTube TV competitor to switch to, we found a shocking number of comments attacking ESPN with the tone of the following...
While there are plenty of comments blaming both companies and which YouTube TV competitor to switch to, we found a shocking number of comments attacking ESPN with the tone of the following...
Plot Twist: Why Are Consumers Blaming ESPN vs.…
Plot Twist: Why Are Consumers Blaming ESPN vs. YouTube TV for the Blackout? Historically when broadcast or cable networks go dark due to a carriage dispute, subscribers focus their anger on the dis…
lightshedtmt.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:33 PM
⚡️ Plot Twist: Why Are Consumers Blaming @espn vs. @YouTubeTV for the Blackout? ⚡️ $DIS $GOOGL
While there are plenty of comments blaming both companies and which YouTube TV competitor to switch to, we found a shocking number of comments attacking ESPN with the tone of the following...
While there are plenty of comments blaming both companies and which YouTube TV competitor to switch to, we found a shocking number of comments attacking ESPN with the tone of the following...
LightShed’s Rich Greenfield Interviewed on The Grill Room Podcast: The WBD Hunger Games
The one-hour discussion focused on the future of Warner Brothers Discovery. We discussed why Paramount is likely to win if the Ellisons are willing to overpay, why it feels like Comcast has to act...
The one-hour discussion focused on the future of Warner Brothers Discovery. We discussed why Paramount is likely to win if the Ellisons are willing to overpay, why it feels like Comcast has to act...
LightShed’s Rich Greenfield Interviewed on The Grill Room Podcast: The WBD Hunger Games
Earlier this week, we joined The Grill Room podcast, hosted by Dylan Byers and Julia Alexander (full episode embedded below, followed by key highlights and timestamps). The one-hour discussion focu…
lightshedtmt.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
LightShed’s Rich Greenfield Interviewed on The Grill Room Podcast: The WBD Hunger Games
The one-hour discussion focused on the future of Warner Brothers Discovery. We discussed why Paramount is likely to win if the Ellisons are willing to overpay, why it feels like Comcast has to act...
The one-hour discussion focused on the future of Warner Brothers Discovery. We discussed why Paramount is likely to win if the Ellisons are willing to overpay, why it feels like Comcast has to act...
⚡️ Implications of Trump’s 60 Minutes Comments on WBD Auction ⚡️
We have to imagine Trump would love to see the same makeover at CBS News playout at CNN...
We have to imagine Trump would love to see the same makeover at CBS News playout at CNN...
Implications of Trump’s 60 Minutes Comments on WBD…
Implications of Trump’s 60 Minutes Comments on WBD Auction Last night, President Trump appeared on CBS’ 60 Minutes and praised the new owners of Paramount/CBS News (David Ellison) and t…
lightshedtmt.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:40 PM
⚡️ Implications of Trump’s 60 Minutes Comments on WBD Auction ⚡️
We have to imagine Trump would love to see the same makeover at CBS News playout at CNN...
We have to imagine Trump would love to see the same makeover at CBS News playout at CNN...
“Mamdani is echoing age old antisemitism, with claiming Jews across the world are the root cause of our problems here… his false claims of genocide, his reluctance to label Hamas a terrorist organization, his unwillingness to condemn…
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of NYC Central Synagogue #votecuomo
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of NYC Central Synagogue #votecuomo
November 2, 2025 at 4:07 PM
“Mamdani is echoing age old antisemitism, with claiming Jews across the world are the root cause of our problems here… his false claims of genocide, his reluctance to label Hamas a terrorist organization, his unwillingness to condemn…
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of NYC Central Synagogue #votecuomo
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of NYC Central Synagogue #votecuomo
Comcast Spills the Tea on Merging Minions, Harry Potter, DC and Wicked Into an Epic Universe
We are increasingly confident that Comcast will propose a combination of NBCUniversal and Warner Bros...
$CMCSA $WBD $PSKY
We are increasingly confident that Comcast will propose a combination of NBCUniversal and Warner Bros...
$CMCSA $WBD $PSKY
Comcast Spills the Tea on Merging Minions, Harry Potter, DC and Wicked Into an Epic Universe
Listen (4:22 mins) We are increasingly confident that Comcast will propose a combination of NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. in the weeks ahead, focused on the structure we laid out yesterday (Can Bri…
lightshedtmt.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Comcast Spills the Tea on Merging Minions, Harry Potter, DC and Wicked Into an Epic Universe
We are increasingly confident that Comcast will propose a combination of NBCUniversal and Warner Bros...
$CMCSA $WBD $PSKY
We are increasingly confident that Comcast will propose a combination of NBCUniversal and Warner Bros...
$CMCSA $WBD $PSKY
Can Brian Roberts Build a Warner Bros-NBCUniversal Rival to Mickey Mouse?
$CMCSA $WBD $PSKY
$CMCSA $WBD $PSKY
Can Brian Roberts Build a Warner Bros-NBCUniversal Rival to Mickey Mouse?
Listen (7:51 mins) Twenty-one years ago, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts led a failed hostile takeover of Disney. Five years later, in 2009, Comcast acquired a 51% stake in NBCUniversal and grew that sta…
lightshedtmt.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Can Brian Roberts Build a Warner Bros-NBCUniversal Rival to Mickey Mouse?
$CMCSA $WBD $PSKY
$CMCSA $WBD $PSKY
How Comcast Could Win Trump’s Heart and Merge NBCUniversal with Warner Bros. Discovery
lightshedtmt.com/2025/10/27/h...
lightshedtmt.com/2025/10/27/h...
How Comcast Could Win Trump’s Heart and Merge NBCUniversal with Warner Bros. Discovery
Listen (10:49) Comcast shares are down 21% YTD, 30% over the past year, and effectively flat over the past decade. Worse yet, the stock’s conglomerate structure has it trading at a discount to both…
lightshedtmt.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:25 PM
How Comcast Could Win Trump’s Heart and Merge NBCUniversal with Warner Bros. Discovery
lightshedtmt.com/2025/10/27/h...
lightshedtmt.com/2025/10/27/h...
⚡️ Paramount Cleaning Up Bakish’s Mistakes, Plus Skydance 1H 2025 Financials ⚡️ $PSKY
Feels like Paramount is likely getting an asset off their books that is losing money and that they probably should not have owned in the first place…
Feels like Paramount is likely getting an asset off their books that is losing money and that they probably should not have owned in the first place…
Paramount Cleaning Up Bakish’s Mistakes, Plus Skydance 1H…
Paramount Cleaning Up Bakish’s Mistakes, Plus Skydance 1H 2025 Financials While we have written extensively about the aggressive content investments David Ellison has made since taking the re…
lightshedtmt.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:10 PM
⚡️ Paramount Cleaning Up Bakish’s Mistakes, Plus Skydance 1H 2025 Financials ⚡️ $PSKY
Feels like Paramount is likely getting an asset off their books that is losing money and that they probably should not have owned in the first place…
Feels like Paramount is likely getting an asset off their books that is losing money and that they probably should not have owned in the first place…
⚡️ Is Snap Finally Breaking out Snap Labs’ Financials (Losses)? ⚡️
Yesterday, @alexheath's Sources broke that Snap was closing in on a $1 billion+ investment from PIF (Saudi Arabia) to create a separate Snap Labs business within Snap.
Yesterday, @alexheath's Sources broke that Snap was closing in on a $1 billion+ investment from PIF (Saudi Arabia) to create a separate Snap Labs business within Snap.
Is Snap Finally Breaking out Snap Labs’ Financials…
Is Snap Finally Breaking out Snap Labs’ Financials (Losses)? We have grown increasingly frustrated with Snap’s unwillingness to separate out financials for Snap Labs, the division build…
lightshedtmt.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:36 PM
⚡️ Is Snap Finally Breaking out Snap Labs’ Financials (Losses)? ⚡️
Yesterday, @alexheath's Sources broke that Snap was closing in on a $1 billion+ investment from PIF (Saudi Arabia) to create a separate Snap Labs business within Snap.
Yesterday, @alexheath's Sources broke that Snap was closing in on a $1 billion+ investment from PIF (Saudi Arabia) to create a separate Snap Labs business within Snap.
Why Would Netflix Spend $75 Billion to Shutter Most of Warner Bros?
lightshedtmt.com/2025/10/22/w...
lightshedtmt.com/2025/10/22/w...
Why Would Netflix Spend $75 Billion to Shutter Most of Warner Bros?
In 2011, Netflix outbid HBO for House of Cards as its first major original, with the series premiering in February 2013 (though the first original was actually Lilyhammer in 2012). Days before Hous…
lightshedtmt.com
October 22, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Why Would Netflix Spend $75 Billion to Shutter Most of Warner Bros?
lightshedtmt.com/2025/10/22/w...
lightshedtmt.com/2025/10/22/w...
New Twist in Ellison's Paramount Offer for Warner Bros Discovery
New Twist in Ellison’s Paramount Offer for Warner Bros Discovery
In our PSKY/WBD post yesterday, Does the Math Behind Paramount’s Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Work?, we laid out the valuation and leverage of a $25 offer for Paramount. Given our belief that Lar…
lightshedtmt.com
October 22, 2025 at 6:11 PM
New Twist in Ellison's Paramount Offer for Warner Bros Discovery
Ten Questions for Netflix’s Q3 2025 Earnings Tonight
$NFLX @netflix
$NFLX @netflix
Ten Questions for Netflix’s Q3 2025 Earnings Tonight
Listen (5:09) Here are our ten key questions for Netflix management on tonight’s Q3 2025 earnings discussion (our Q2 2025 questions can be found here). 1) What implications do you see from p…
lightshedtmt.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Ten Questions for Netflix’s Q3 2025 Earnings Tonight
$NFLX @netflix
$NFLX @netflix
Does the Math Behind Paramount’s Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Work? $PSKY $WBD
Since taking control of Paramount, the Skydance team led by CEO David Ellison has proven the power of using money to outbid rivals...
Since taking control of Paramount, the Skydance team led by CEO David Ellison has proven the power of using money to outbid rivals...
Does the Math Behind Paramount’s Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Work?
Listen (12:39 mins) Time and time again, money talks far louder than legacy relationships across Hollywood and Sports Media rights: In 1993, News Corp’s FOX outbids CBS for Sunday afternoon N…
lightshedtmt.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Does the Math Behind Paramount’s Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Work? $PSKY $WBD
Since taking control of Paramount, the Skydance team led by CEO David Ellison has proven the power of using money to outbid rivals...
Since taking control of Paramount, the Skydance team led by CEO David Ellison has proven the power of using money to outbid rivals...
⚡️ Spotify Gains Ad Reach, While Netflix Expands Time Spent ⚡️ $SPOT $NFLX
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Netflix/Spotify agreement is that all 16 podcasts will only be found on Spotify and Netflix. This means these 16 podcasts are coming off of YouTube...
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Netflix/Spotify agreement is that all 16 podcasts will only be found on Spotify and Netflix. This means these 16 podcasts are coming off of YouTube...
Spotify Gains Ad Reach, While Netflix Expands Time…
Spotify Gains Ad Reach, While Netflix Expands Time Spent Earlier today (link), Netflix and Spotify announced an agreement for 16 Spotify video podcasts to be made available on Netflix. While Spotif…
lightshedtmt.com
October 14, 2025 at 10:11 PM
⚡️ Spotify Gains Ad Reach, While Netflix Expands Time Spent ⚡️ $SPOT $NFLX
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Netflix/Spotify agreement is that all 16 podcasts will only be found on Spotify and Netflix. This means these 16 podcasts are coming off of YouTube...
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Netflix/Spotify agreement is that all 16 podcasts will only be found on Spotify and Netflix. This means these 16 podcasts are coming off of YouTube...
Disney’s ESPN Uses Soon-to-be-Owned Fubo to Execute New “Streaming” Channel Strategy
$DIS $FUBO
$DIS $FUBO
Disney’s ESPN Uses Soon-to-be-Owned Fubo to Execute New “Streaming” Channel Strategy
Listen (5:05 mins) Last month (link), we highlighted that ESPN’s DTC launch was actually less about DTC and more about creating yet another network that it could force into MVPDs/vMVPDs bundl…
lightshedtmt.com
October 8, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Disney’s ESPN Uses Soon-to-be-Owned Fubo to Execute New “Streaming” Channel Strategy
$DIS $FUBO
$DIS $FUBO
Why Netflix is Not Buying Warner Bros. and What Paramount Can Learn from Netflix
While we are sure there’s IP inside Warner Bros that Netflix would love to remake or exploit...the content driving Netflix’s subscriber growth has been...
While we are sure there’s IP inside Warner Bros that Netflix would love to remake or exploit...the content driving Netflix’s subscriber growth has been...
Why Netflix is Not Buying Warner Bros. and What Paramount Can Learn from Netflix
Listen (4:46 mins) Last week, Variety wrote about the debut of Warner Bros.’ 2025 Superman on HBO Max with the following headline: “Superman Hits 13 Million Views in 10 Days of Streamin…
lightshedtmt.com
October 6, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Why Netflix is Not Buying Warner Bros. and What Paramount Can Learn from Netflix
While we are sure there’s IP inside Warner Bros that Netflix would love to remake or exploit...the content driving Netflix’s subscriber growth has been...
While we are sure there’s IP inside Warner Bros that Netflix would love to remake or exploit...the content driving Netflix’s subscriber growth has been...
⚡️ Sorry Peacock 🦚 NBC and YouTube TV Reach Carriage Agreement Without You ⚡️
Earlier this year, Mike Cavanagh, now Comcast’s Co-CEO, stated: “We’re not really running a Peacock-only strategy. We’re running a broadcast-plus-streaming strategy and looking to optimize that over the years ahead...
Earlier this year, Mike Cavanagh, now Comcast’s Co-CEO, stated: “We’re not really running a Peacock-only strategy. We’re running a broadcast-plus-streaming strategy and looking to optimize that over the years ahead...
Sorry Peacock: NBC and YouTube TV Reach Carriage…
Sorry Peacock: NBC and YouTube TV Reach Carriage Agreement Without You Earlier this year, Mike Cavanagh, now Comcast’s Co-CEO, stated: “We’re not really running a Peacock-only strategy.…
lightshedtmt.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:45 PM
⚡️ Sorry Peacock 🦚 NBC and YouTube TV Reach Carriage Agreement Without You ⚡️
Earlier this year, Mike Cavanagh, now Comcast’s Co-CEO, stated: “We’re not really running a Peacock-only strategy. We’re running a broadcast-plus-streaming strategy and looking to optimize that over the years ahead...
Earlier this year, Mike Cavanagh, now Comcast’s Co-CEO, stated: “We’re not really running a Peacock-only strategy. We’re running a broadcast-plus-streaming strategy and looking to optimize that over the years ahead...
⚡️ ChatGPT Has Never Sent Reddit Nor Any Site Meaningful Traffic ⚡️ $RDDT
No investor was worried about ChatGPT sending less traffic to Reddit, because the traffic was insignificant to begin with…
No investor was worried about ChatGPT sending less traffic to Reddit, because the traffic was insignificant to begin with…
ChatGPT Has Never Sent Reddit Nor Any Site…
ChatGPT Has Never Sent Reddit Nor Any Site Meaningful Traffic Investors are panicking over Similarweb and Promptwatch data that shows a drop in Reddit DAUs tied to a dramatic reduction in citations…
lightshedtmt.com
October 1, 2025 at 2:06 PM
⚡️ ChatGPT Has Never Sent Reddit Nor Any Site Meaningful Traffic ⚡️ $RDDT
No investor was worried about ChatGPT sending less traffic to Reddit, because the traffic was insignificant to begin with…
No investor was worried about ChatGPT sending less traffic to Reddit, because the traffic was insignificant to begin with…
Make Hollywood Great Again, or Destroy It Trying
How can @realDonaldTrump push movie production back into the US and the scary implications if he succeeds...
How can @realDonaldTrump push movie production back into the US and the scary implications if he succeeds...
Make Hollywood Great Again, or Destroy It Trying
Listen (5:56 mins) May 2025: President Trump announced plans for a 100% tariff on movies produced overseas to drive production back into the US (see our Lightning post here). The plan was met with …
lightshedtmt.com
September 29, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Make Hollywood Great Again, or Destroy It Trying
How can @realDonaldTrump push movie production back into the US and the scary implications if he succeeds...
How can @realDonaldTrump push movie production back into the US and the scary implications if he succeeds...