Here’s everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026:
AND IN THE CATEGORY OF 'I'M NOT SHOCKED BY THESE COMMENTS'
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told CNBC on Tuesday that Paramount’s offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery is a “good deal” that will be approved “quickly:"
“There’s a lot of concerns when Netflix was the potential buyer there,” Carr said on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday. “That particular combination raised a lot of competition concerns.”
“If there’s any FCC role at all, it’ll be a pretty minimal role. And I think this is a good deal, and I think it should get through pretty quickly,” Carr added.
Yep, no political component of this deal at all.
VERSANT MEDIA REPORTS LOWER PROFITS AND REVENUE FOR 2025
In a Tuesday morning call with Wall Street analysts and industry reporters, Versant Media CEO Mark Lazarus reported the company had seen both profits and revenue dip. 2025 net income fell 32% last year to $930 million, on a 5.4% dip in revenue to about $7 billion. Adjusted EBITDA of $2.42 billion was down 14%. Versant ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of $1.09 billion and $983 million in long term debt.
Versant didn't officially split from Comcast until this past January, but it is reporting 2025 numbers as if it had been independent.
Versant Media is the company spun-off of Comcast that includes that company's linear networks (except for Bravo), as well as Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, Sports Engine and Golf Now.
Lazarus announced plans for a standalone MS Now streaming product, a CNBC subscription service, and a free Fandango AVOD service.
The company also announced a $0.375 quarterly dividend and authorized a $1 billion share repurchase program. I miss the days when it was illegal for companies to spend money on share repurchase programs, which take money that should be spent on growing the company and instead use it to artificially boost the stock price by taking shares of the company out of circulation. Especially this early in its newly independent life, Versant Media should be investing every penny it has into new content to grow some of its near-zombie linear networks.
PLAN TO COMBINE PARAMOUNT+ AND HBO MAX IS HARDER THAN IT SOUNDS
In a call with Wall Street analysts and reporters Monday morning, CEO David Ellison and COO and Chief Strategy Officer Andy Gordon talked about plans for Paramount+ and HBO Max post-merger. They plan on combining the two services, along with maybe Pluto TV? And while that idea might seem logical on the face of it, I wrote a piece for Forbes describing the complex mess the process is likely to be:
And aside from the decision about what to call this new streaming platform (Paramount HBO Max Plus With Showtime?), the challenges of integrating all of that content into one platform in a way that allows users to find what they are looking for is a massive problem. And what happens to the standalone streaming service BET+? Or Discovery+, which turns out to be the only profitable streamer in either company?
Discovery+ is an especially interesting case, because even before the merger closed between Discovery Communications and Warner Media, new CEO David Zaslav vowed to get ride of Discovery+ and convince those subscribers to upgrade to what was then called Max. That never happened, because while the subscriber base of Discovery+ isn’t huge, it’s loyal and turned out to be uninterested in switching to a more expensive streaming service.
And then there is the cost of this new streaming platform. Both services are currently losing money. So combining them and simply charging the same price it would cost for each service separately doesn’t get you anywhere. But assuming you want live sports, the cheapest option for HBO Max is their standard plan, which costs $18.49 a month. The cheapest Paramount+ plan that includes live sports is Paramount Essential at $8.49 a month. So that combined service would have to cost $27 a month in order to just match the revenue each service is receiving now.
The situation is even more complicated in Europe, with 17 countries now having a version of HBO Max as well as the SkyShowtime partnership that currently includes all of the Paramount content.
NETFLIX WANTS TO HOST BBC CHANNELS
In his first interview since Netflix walked away from its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, co-CEO Greg Peters argued that allowing UK viewers to access BBC channels and content through the streamer, effectively bypassing BBC's iPlayer, would help it reach a larger audience. The deal would be similar to one Netflix made with French commercial broadcaster TF1.
Peters said that Netflix could help the BBC content reach as "wide an audience as possible," and that the streamer's user-friendly interface ensures a superior viewing experience over platforms such as YouTube.
The BBC recently announced it had signed a deal with YouTube to commission content specifically for the video-sharing platform, with the goal to launch around 50 public service channels on YouTube in the next 12 months.
“Our job is to think about this from not only the BBC’s perspective, but a lot of broadcasters,” Peters said. “How can we help them actually connect with audiences that they’re not really connecting with? We’re eager to do that.”
“When you think about what a BBC production or a Netflix production costs, it’s not really supported by the YouTube model,” he added.
ODDS AND SODS
* Based on the short story written by Manuel Gonzales, The Miniature Wife is a dramedy examining the power (im)balances between spouses Lindy (Elizabeth Banks) and Les (Matthew Macfadyen) after a technological accident induces the ultimate relationship crisis. It premieres Thursday, April 9th on Peacock. Here is a first video look at the series.
* Palm Royale was canceled by Apple TV after two seasons.
* On Friday, March 13, Wrexham AFC co-chairmen Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds will host Live from Wrexham with Rob & Ryan, a live broadcast for the highly anticipated Wrexham AFC vs. Swansea City match. It will air on Sky Sports Football in the UK and on Paramount+ in the U.S.
* Season four of Love On The Spectrum premieres Wednesday, April 1st on Netflix.
* While Comedy Central in the U.S. is basically a bunch of reruns, licensed movies and new episodes of The Daily Show, the network is more vibrant in some other parts of the world. For instance, Comedy Central UK just ordered second seasons of the Jimmy Carr-hosted Am I The A**hole?, Iain Stirling’s Roast the Internet and Stupid Central. Granted, all three shows are some variation of "making fun of things on the internet," but at least they are new linear TV programs.
* Todd Meadows, a deckhand on Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch, has died at the age of 25. It's not clear how he died, although a camera crew was reportedly on board filming the end of the show's twenty-second season.
* The special Life On Earth: Attenborough's Greatest Adventure premieres Wednesday, May 6th on PBS.
* People Magazine Investigates: The Secrets Of The Twelve Tribes Cult will premiere Monday, March 16th on Investigation Discovery. Here is a first video look at the special. And here is the official logline: "Started in the early 1970s by founder Gene Spriggs, the Twelve Tribes organization quickly became popular with people in search of a simpler, more idyllic peaceful life. Spriggs and the group promised an escape from the modern pressures of society and a return to living life in accordance with the Old Testament. However, some discovered quickly that life within Twelve Tribes was not what it was made out to be. After members sacrificed their 'earthly possessions' to join the group, allegedly handing over their life savings, some claimed they were forced into excruciating mandatory labor, that children were allegedly exposed to severe corporal punishment, and that access to modern medical care was terrifyingly prohibited."
THE DEATH OF SPOTIFY
While this piece in the newsletter The Artist Economy is specifically about the streaming music business, it has some lessons in there which would also apply to the streaming television business as well:
Iovine argues that DSPs have completely failed to become “cultural hangars” where artists and fans can actually interact.
"It's one-dimensional. It's an ATM machine. You put your money in, you get your music," Iovine stated. "They don't do anything for the artist. The artist wants to communicate with their fans, period... and the streaming services are still saying, 'We'll put you on our list if you're nice to us.' That's bullshit."
In nicer words, the truth is: Spotify does not want you to have a relationship with your fans. Spotify wants your fans to have a relationship with Spotify.
They guard the listener data with their lives because that data is the only moat they have left. If you build your entire career on a platform that actively prevents you from getting an email address or a phone number, you are building a house on rented land. You are an unpaid employee for a Swedish tech company that views your life's work as "content" to fill their pipes.
This is one thing that none of the larger streamers have figured out how to do yet: create a way for fans of a show, actor or genre to interact with creators and other fans. To be honest, they haven't had to, because the streaming business has been growing rapidly. But as growth slows or even halts in more mature markets, streamers will need to come up with new ways to engage customers and reduce churn.
TWEET OF THE DAY
WHAT'S COMING TONIGHT AND THIS WEEKEND
TUESDAY, MARCH 3RD:
* NCIS Spring Premiere (CBS)
* NCIS Origins Spring Premiere (CBS)
* NCIS Sydney Spring Premiere (CBS)
* Bruce Bruce: I Ain't Playin' (Netflix)
* RJ Decker Series Premiere (ABC)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4TH:
* America's Culinary Cup Series Premiere (CBS)
* Blue Therapy Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Body Bizarre Series Premiere (TLC)
* Dirty Rotten Scandals Series Premiere (E!)
* Feds (Investigation Discovery)
* Flavortown Food Fight Series Premiere (Food)
* Hunt For The Missing: Chicago Series Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
* Southern Hospitality Season Premiere (Bravo)
* Street Flow 3 (Netflix)
* The Hunt Series Premiere (Apple TV)
* Young Sherlock Series Premiere (Prime Video)
SEE YOU THIS WEDNESDAY!