The Dan Rayburn Podcast

This week, we discuss why a "unified streaming stack" is not the same as combining two streaming services, despite media reports that HBO Max and Paramount+ will merge into a single DTC service shortly. As we break down the latest details of the proposed Paramount and WBD deal, we speculate on the layoff impact across both companies, as Paramount tells bankers it expects to see billions in cost savings while telling employees the savings target will be realized mostly through non-personnel means.

We also cover the launch of F1 on Apple TV, Versant Media's full-year 2025 earnings, Sling TV losing 167,000 subs in Q4, NBCU not planning to publish Super Bowl viewership numbers for Peacock/digital, and YouTube in talks to stream four more live NFL games. Finally, we detail that, due to rising costs for servers, RAM, SSDs, and energy, Akamai has notified customers and partners of upcoming surcharges and contract renewal adjustments.
Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we discuss the latest Olympics viewership numbers on Peacock and debate whether Peacock's offer to give me a 72% discount on the service for six months to keep me as a subscriber is beneficial to the company's long-term viability. We cover the latest Apple TV news, including MLS, which kicked off the season this week; Apple's launch of its new dedicated Formula 1 channel in the Apple TV app; and the news that IMAX will show five major Formula 1 Grands Prix in their theatres. 

We also detail the new ultra-low-latency technology behind Comcast’s 30 Mbps upscaled 4K Super Bowl Stream, called RealTime4K, the workflow, and the supported devices. Finally, on the infrastructure side, we cover the latest numbers from Akamai's Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings, as well as the news that it will no longer break out delivery revenue. In addition, we detail the numbers from CDN Netskrt, which has broken out its network capacity, capital-to-revenue ratio, and the unique factors behind its underlying costs.
Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, I discuss my review of Peacock's Super Bowl stream, which was executed flawlessly, along with some of the limited viewership numbers released to date. I also detail the new live TV bundles from YouTube TV, the launch of HBO Max in the UK and Ireland and a new bundle from Sky that includes Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, and Hayu. I cover earnings results from Roku (full-year revenue up 15%), AMC Networks (AMC+ price increase), Optimum (lost 49,000 pay-TV subs), Amagi (which had its IPO last month) and positive earnings from Fastly and Cloudflare, with Fastly stock up 116% in the week of earnings.

Finally, with the hyperscalers projected to collectively spend close to $700 billion in capex in 2026, I break down what we are seeing in the bond market for their capital raise, the risks, and why analysts expect free cash flow to plummet this year.
Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

Filippo Maria De Salazar, General Manager of the Brightcove business, sat down with me for a detailed conversation on the state of the business, one year after the Bending Spoons acquisition. Filippo discusses Brightcove's size, its structure under the Bending Spoons umbrella, and the benefits Brightcove derives from being part of a larger software and engineering company. 

We also discuss Brightcove's business, including OTT services for media customers and video use cases for enterprise customers tied to marketing and communications. Finally, Filippo details Brightcove's roadmap, highlighting the new functionality already added to the platform and the 2026 product roadmap they released publicly earlier in the month.
Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

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