Flipping the Script: How A New Capital Strategy is Changing Media & Entertainment

Capital markets are increasingly financing and valuing Media & Entertainment through royalty revenues rather than control over distribution.

For decades, the Media & Entertainment industry has been viewed primarily through the lens of spectacle. Film premieres, celebrity culture and blockbuster franchises have long defined the public image of Hollywood and its global counterparts.

Yet behind the glamour lies an industry expected to generate more than US$3.065 trillion in annual revenues worldwide. And increasingly, the most consequential actors shaping this economic landscape are not studios and streaming platforms.

They’re investors.

A growing cohort...

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6 Comments

interesting analysis, thanks. One small point – Alcon Media is not a financial institution – it started as a production company founded with the financal backing of Fedex founder Fred Smith, and has grown into a diversified media group with film, TV, music and interactive divisions.

Thomas Kingston says:
March 6, 2026 at 5:19 pm
Dear Gavin, quite right. Alcon managed to win the competitive bidding, increasing its income producing library of IP as a result. Some analysts (and some in the LinkedIn Commentariat) seem to see a parallel motivation in the Paramount-SkyDance bid for WBD, being led by board-member Gerry Cardinale (who is also head of RedBird).
What do you think?
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- Gavin says:
  April 11, 2026 at 5:56 pm
  Skydance’s Paramount bid is backed by David Ellison’s dad, so that’s a definite similarity with Alcon’s UHNW Fred Smith – neither backer is a financial institution, though.
- Thomas Kingston says:
  April 11, 2026 at 6:16 pm
  Hi Gavin! Thanks for pointing that out. It has been reported that Larry Ellison involved his capital team in the Skydance transaction with Paramount. I find that interesting as well. But I note that the same advisors and investment bankers are at work for both UHNW and “Institutional” capital (both regulated and sovereign groups). Going after long-term royalty revenues as opposed to the production or distribution businesses seems to be a now well-established allocation strategy for “big capital”. LBO and other M&A specialists are likely going to accelerate this.