U.S. financial markets may have finished the day with mixed activity, but media stocks took a beating from investors over concerns a retransmission consent dispute between Charter Communications and The Walt Disney Company has sparked an irreversible disconnect between broadcast TV companies and MVPDs — a potentially revenue-depreciating action.
With the Closing Bell on Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, CBS News and Stations parent Paramount Global was down 9.5% to $13.65, while FOX was off by 6.3%, to $30.98. For NBCUniversal parent Comcast Corp., a small 2.2% decline to $45.73 was seen ahead of immediate after-hours improvement of 4 cents.
With the future of retransmission consent revenue put in the crosshairs thanks to Charter’s Spectrum cable TV service provider’s unwillingness to compromise with Disney on a new deal, broadcast TV station owners also suffered dips on Friday.
Nexstar Media Group shares slumped by 13.1%, to $141.50, while Sinclair Broadcast Group‘s stock price dipped by 10.5%, to $11.30.
Lesser declines were experienced at Gray Television ($7.81, down 3.1%) and The E.W. Scripps Co. ($7.15, down 6.4%).
Meanwhile, The Walt Disney Co. saw its stock fall 2.44% to $81.64. This compares to $115.18 seen on September 5, 2022.
While radio broadcasting companies were also on the downswing, to a limited extent, the struggles continued on Friday for Audacy Corp. At the closing bell, “AUDA” was priced at $0.6805, a 4.1% decline from Thursday.
