The Dan Rayburn Podcast

This week, I detail the numbers you should know from Q4 2025 earnings results from Netflix, Amazon, Fubo, FOX, YouTube, Comcast, and Disney. I cover subscriber additions, profit and loss, Fubo's plans for a reverse stock split, the latest on its carriage dispute with NBCUniversal, and the latest cord-cutting numbers. With the NFL and ESPN deal now closed, giving Disney control of the NFL Network and other NFL Media assets, I break down the terms, the additional content Disney gets, what the deal is worth, and how it is structured. I also cover viewership numbers from Paramount's first UFC stream, with 7 million households in the U.S. and Latin America having tuned in, and Crunchyroll raising prices across some of its tiers in the U.S. Finally, I give the latest news on the Netflix and WBD deal, with Netflix's co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, testifying before the US Senate’s antitrust subcommittee.

On the vendor side, I detail the exact extent of Vimeo's layoffs, share my thoughts on Brightcove's 2026 product roadmap, and provide financial figures for CDN and infrastructure provider Gcore, which showed significant revenue growth over the past two years.
Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, I detail viewership numbers from Prime Video’s exclusive stream of the NFL Wild Card playoff game, making it the most-streamed NFL game in the U.S., as well as those from Peacock’s exclusive NFL game on December 27th. I also review the latest subscription numbers for RTL+ and TF1+, as well as the recent price increases from Paramount+ and Spotify. Additionally, I discuss the new Amazon content deals with M6 in Europe and RTVE in Spain, involving live linear channels. Finally, I explain why the Metaverse was never real and just a fantasy of executive egos with money to burn, and detail Stats Perform's acquisition of the assets of the ultra-low-latency tech company Phenix Real Time Solutions for approximately $7 million.
Added Jan 20th: Correction: I mispoke regarding Paramount's efforts to compel WBD to disclose additional financial information. The judge has not rejected Paramount's efforts, but rather rejected the motion to expedite the trial.
Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we discuss news that FIFA has partnered with TikTok to allow select media partners to live-stream parts of matches from the FIFA World Cup, with limited details on what exactly that means. We also review the latest viewership numbers for NFL and NBA games across Netflix, Peacock, and Prime Video, while noting that ESPN (Disney), CBS (Paramount), and FOX don't disclose the percentage of NFL regular-season viewership that comes from streaming. Finally, we cover Dish countersuing Walt Disney Co. and ESPN, Comcast spinoff Versant going public on the Nasdaq, and WBD’s board once again rejecting Paramount's latest bid.
Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, I wrap up the year with a review of NFL streaming during the holiday week across Netflix, Prime Video, ESPN and Peacock, with no major QoE issues reported. I also highlight ESPN's data-enhanced MNF telecast, featuring a well-designed stats overlay that was informative and not obtrusive. Finally, I wrap up with a few news items from Amazon, Sling TV, and Netflix, a recap of traffic to my posts, and a thank you to readers and listeners for what has been 30 years for me in the streaming media industry.
Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we highlight the NFL's distribution strategy during the Christmas holiday, with five games played, none of which will be broadcast nationally on broadcast TV, during some of the year's largest viewership windows. We cover the news that Instagram is launching an app for TVs, rolling out first on Amazon's Fire TV devices in the U.S. and suggest that many in the media are making this out to be bigger CTV ad news than it is, when selling ads in an 8-minute video on YouTube and a 15-second video on Instagram are very different.

We detail how Amazon Prime Video has removed AI recaps from certain shows after users reported errors and why AI is absolutely overhyped in its deployment in the streaming video stack, with almost no examples of how well it works, what it costs to implement, or proof that it works at scale. Finally, we cover the latest news about YouTube, ESPN, Netflix, JioStar, Crunchyroll, FIFA, Brightcove, and Fastly.
Podcast produced by Security Halt Media