$0.60: What It Costs to Buy Over-the-Air Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Channels
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Sky New Zealand paid Warner NZ$1, which was worth about $0.60 US at the time of the report, in exchange for Warner's local channels business in New Zealand. The deal will make Sky the major force in TV media, giving it 100% of outstanding shares in Discovery NZ on a '…cash-free debt-free basis.' This will also give Sky 35% of the linear television ad market revenue share, and about 24% of the same thing in digital TV.
Sky will also end up with the Three free-to-air channel as well as the ThreeNow streaming platform. Further, Warner will even supply content for the next several years as a 'multi-year agreement' has been established to do just that. The deal is expected to close August 1, and the New Zealand Commerce Commission has quietly advised both sides that it will not be objecting to any part of the deal.
Max Surge
Meanwhile, Warner will be pushing its streaming operations that much harder. HBO Max recently added around 12 new territories, mostly in Europe. With the addition of Tajikistan, Malta, Lithuania, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Iceland, Georgia, Estonia, Cyprus, Armenia and Albania, Warner clears the 90-market mark with hopes to clear 100 soon. Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom are all set for a launch early in 2026.
Sports, meanwhile, will be well-represented here too. Eurosport access will be involved, with Tour de France racing, US Open tennis, the PGA Tour and more coming up. And sports on HBO Max will also be available with an add-on option.
Is WBD Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on WBD stock based on 10 Buys and eight Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 48.49% rally in its share price over the past year, the average WBD price target of $13 per share implies 1.13% upside potential.
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