NFLX Jan 2026 700.000 put

Sports has to feed into a streamer's 'ecosystem': Kevin Mayer

As streaming platforms lean heavier into ad-supported subscription tiers and live sports broadcasts, what does this mean for linear TV which has been on the decline for years? Candle Media Co-Founder and Co-CEO Kevin Mayer joins Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi at the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to discuss where sports streaming fits into the broader game plan for major streaming service providers. Mayer calls sports and news "the last bastion of pay TV" with the future of linear television mainly coming down to sports. "The outlook for pay television isn't great, and when sports viewers find other opportunities to watch sports, I think you'll see a continuation of that decline and a collapse, frankly, of that environment," Mayer says. "But broadcast is a bit different. That doesn't depend on pay TV to get delivered to households there in every single household. And I do think you'll just see a different type of programming coming on there." Mayer's resume also includes his tenure as the CEO of TikTok, COO of the popular app's parent company ByteDance, and the chairman of Disney's (DIS) Direct-to-Consumer & International segment. Watch Brian Sozzi's full interview with Kevin Mayer, and keep up to date with Yahoo Finance's coverage of this year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Catalysts. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.