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In the middle of July, media executives and an impressive political cohort gather at a historic mountain resort to hike, chat and whitewater raft. The elixir of laid-back proximity distilled in the rustic woods of Sun Valley is credited with helping to close a number of major deals over the decades.
But could a deal be scrapped this year? It’s unlikely, but Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount, and Barry Diller, who could be interested, are both in attendance, and Paramount’s recent merger deal with Skydance leaves a 45-day window for other interested buyers to jump in.
Skydance CEO David Ellison is not in Sun Valley but likely will be next year as an owner-operator of a major studio.
As the media and entertainment industry continues to undergo unprecedented change, streaming deals, sports rights, the overall state of film, television and technology, and the current political climate are at the forefront of the conference, which has been hosted annually since 1983 by investment bank Allen & Co. Open AI co-founder Sam Altman is participating, along with Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy. Patriarch Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch, the Fox CEO, join Disney chief Bob Iger and Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav for a well-curated program of discussions, networking and nature. Executives at Comcast, NBCUniversal’s parent company, are at full capacity with the Paris Summer Olympics starting later this month, and it’s not immediately clear who from the company will be attending.
The tech tycoons and titans began arriving yesterday, private planes crowding the tiny airport in the small Idaho town.
Iger, who is set to leave Disney at the end of 2026, is in a joint venture with Dana Walden, Alan Bergman and Josh D’Amaro, as well as CFO Hugh Johnston. This time, he wants to organize the succession after his previous CEO pick, Bob Chapek, collapsed and was ousted, leading to Iger facing a second round at the helm. The search is underway, and he is preparing for life after Disney, looking, with his wife Willow Bay, to make a big investment in the Angel City FS women’s professional soccer team.
Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment with Bergman, oversees all of the company’s entertainment media, news and content businesses worldwide, including streaming. Bergman leads the company’s theatrical and streaming releases, including for Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures. D’Amaro leads Disney Experiences, led by theme parks and resorts.
Sun Valley could be considered a kind of succession planning since all three interact with the other participants.
Dana Walden, Alan Bergman and Josh D’Amaro
Disney
The leaders and wealthy political donors will mingle with some of the nation’s most dynamic Democratic governors, including Gretchen Whitmer of Wisconsin and Wes Moore of Maryland. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was invited but is staying in Harrisburg for ongoing budget negotiations. All have doubled down on their support for President Biden, amid calls for him to withdraw from the presidential race after his disastrous debate performance two weeks ago. Biden has said he won’t do so and is currently hosting a celebration of NATO’s 75th anniversary.th birthday in Washington, DC
Whitmer, who was the target of an unsuccessful kidnapping plot, defended Biden this week and spoke about her new book, True Gretch: What I Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between.
Shari Redstone, meanwhile, may be turning the page on Allen & Co. after this year as she prepares to exit the industry. She explored potential deals and partnerships for years at the event, but arrived at Sun Valley 2024 after literally closing the sale of Paramount to Skydance. She’s unlikely to abandon Ellison after so many months of tinkering with a combination she favors for a combination of reasons. But Paramount is a publicly traded company, and under the terms of the deal, anyone could come along in the next month and a half.
Sun Valley has a few other potential or former suitors. Sony Pictures Entertainment, along with Apollo, was considering Paramount’s bid but backed off for now due to regulatory complications and the rise of Skydance. “There could have been other scenarios that could have played out differently, but this seems to be the scenario right now,” SPE boss Tom Rothman told Deadline this week. Kenichiro Yoshida, CEO of Sony Corp., SPE’s parent company, which also covers music, games and electronics, will be at Sun Valley along with Hiroki Totoki, the giant’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, who also spoke with Redstone about a possible merger, wouldn’t miss Sun Valley, where in recent years he has speculated about upcoming deals as WBD gets its finances in order after the merger.
The merger frenzy has been tempered by challenges, or threats, from an extremely proactive FTC and federal regulators, though that could change if the next administration is Republican. Deals that have leaked out of Sun Valley range from Jeff Bezos’ acquisition of The Washington Post and AT&T’s merger with Warner Media, to the time when AOL bought Time Warner and Disney acquired ABC.
For Zaslav, the most important thing may be basketball, as WBD is in danger of losing its long-standing rights deal with the NBA. Here’s an opportunity to charm league commissioner Adam Silver, also in attendance, into giving the company a few games.
A number of sports powerhouses will be on the Idaho stage at a time when tens of billions of dollars are changing hands in pursuit of ever-valuable rights. With the NBA set to announce a new round of rights deals, multiple reports in recent weeks have indicated that Disney/ESPN has renewed its deal, with Amazon Prime Video and NBCU joining them as new rights holders. WBD’s Turner, who has broadcast NBA games since the 1980s, appears to be out of the picture, but his close relationship with the league and contractual right to match competing offers could keep him in the game. Turner runs NBA.com and handles production for NBA TV, which could make it difficult for the league to sever ties. Talent and fans have also complained about the potential end of TNT At the heart of the NBAthe most popular studio sports show in existence.
Once the NBA rights are finalized, the biggest remaining property will be the UFC. Disney bought the rights from Fox in 2018 for $1.5 billion. The price is likely to increase significantly, given that Disney’s deal was struck in 2018, before major streaming players Prime Video, Apple and Netflix began investing heavily in live sports.
Streaming will be a major topic at the conference, as it is in everyday industry conversations. Partnerships and bundles are starting to gain traction, with two recent examples: Warner Bros. Discovery’s bundle with Disney+ and Hulu and a sports package involving Fox, ESPN and WBD’s Turner. These projects are significant, but industry watchers and Wall Streeters are waiting for a bigger step to point the way to a more profitable future.
Paramount Global has made its interest in a streaming partnership clear. Current management at the company has described “significant” inbound interest, with reports pointing to WBD’s Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock as potential dance partners. Ellison has talked about enhancing Paramount’s tech stack in an effort to boost Paramount+, but also said joint ventures or partnerships would be considered, particularly outside the U.S.
Dade Hayes and Dominic Patten contributed to this article