Now Streaming: Comcast, Netflix, Paramount submit formal bids for Warner Bros.

“Now Streaming” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories surrounding the biggest content streamers.

PLAYING THIS WEEKEND: Among this weekend’s notable new streaming content is season two of Netflix (NFLX) comedy TV series “A Man on the Inside,” starring Ted Danson. Also available to stream this weekend is Apple TV’s (AAPL) Christmas family comedy film “The Family Plan 2,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan. Also out this weekend is Amazon Prime Video (AMZN) animated fantasy series “The Mighty Nein.”

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY: Bids for the rights to own all or some of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) were delivered at noon Thursday – with deal insiders predicting a winning offer that will fall far short of the $30 a share that CEO David Zaslav said he wanted for the media conglomerate, On The Money has learned, The New York Post’s Charles Gasparino (PSKY) – the burgeoning media company run by independent movie producer David Ellison and backed by his father, billionaire Trump donor and Oracle (ORCL) founder Larry Ellison – against Brian Roberts’ media behemoth Comcast and streaming giant Netflix. Other media and tech companies like Amazon have expressed interest, but it’s unclear if they’re as committed as the main contenders in duking it out in a process that’s expected to last until the end of the year, people close to the bidding war told On The Money.

Meanwhile, Deadline (CMCSA) and Netflix have submitted bids to acquire all or part of Warner Bros. Discovery, ushering in a dramatic period of evolution for the media business. Multiple sources confirmed the bidding to Deadline, with the word coming as a deadline for non-binding bids arrived on Thursday. There will be another round, after the particulars are hashed out, when bidders will be asked if they want to submit final, binding offers, the authors noted.

MLB RIGHTS: Major League Baseball said it has formed new three-year media rights agreements with ESPN (DIS), NBCUniversal and Netflix. The agreements, which will cover rights for the 2026-2028 MLB seasons, will extend MLB and ESPN’s long-term relationship to 39 consecutive seasons, mark the return of NBC to regularly airing MLB games on its broadcast network for the first time in 26 years, and expand Netflix’s partnership with MLB from original programming to live baseball event coverage for the first time. ESPN has secured the rights to sell and distribute MLB.TV, the league’s out of market streaming service, across ESPN’s industry leading digital and streaming platforms.

Starting with the 2026 season, fans will now be able to purchase and watch their favorite teams’ games outside of their home territory on MLB.TV through ESPN. NBCUniversal has secured a package of rights that includes Sunday Night Baseball, Sunday Leadoff, and all four Wild Card Series of the Postseason. This partnership marks the first media rights agreement between MLB, NBC and Peacock to bring a slate of regular season and Postseason games to NBC’s broadcast channel, NBCSN, and Peacock’s streaming service since the network last carried games in 2000. Following a successful series of baseball documentaries, Netflix will air live events and games for both Major League Baseball globally and, as previously announced, the 2026 World Baseball Classic in Japan. Netflix will open the MLB season the next three years with a singular game on Opening Night, the evening prior to a full slate of traditional Opening Day games. In 2026, Netflix will open the season with the New York Yankees and seven-time All-Star, three-time A.L. MVP and Northern California native Aaron Judge visiting Rafael Devers and the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, March 25. Netflix will air the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, the most-watched skills competition in sports, the day before the MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard. In 2026, Netflix will air MLB at Field of Dreams live from Dyersville, Iowa on August 13.

FOX/FS1 (FOXA) will continue to be the home of the World Series, League Championship and Division Series, All-Star, regular season games primarily on Saturdays, World Baseball Classic, and special event games. TBS will continue to be the home of League Championship and Division Series telecasts, plus regular season games on Tuesday nights. Apple TV will continue to stream “Friday Night Baseball” doubleheaders throughout the regular season. MLB Network will also continue to air live games.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Paramount Skydance has won the auction for the rights to broadcast most Champions League matches in the U.K. from 2027 to 2031 in a major shake-up of the domestic rights market, The Guardian reported this week. The publication has learned that Paramount+, whose subsidiary company Paramount+ owns the rights for Champions League games in the U.S., made the largest bid in this week’s auction and an announcement is due. Amazon Prime is poised to land the first pick of Tuesday matches in major European markets in the new streaming deal sold by Uefa, The Guardian added.

DISNEY/YOUTUBE TV: In an email to YouTube TV (GOOGL) subscribers, the company said, “We’re happy to share that we’ve reached a deal with Disney to bring their content back to YouTube TV. You now have access to Disney channels, including ABC and ESPN, and any recordings that were previously in your Library.”

STOCK PLAYS: Other publicly traded companies in the space include FuboTV (FUBO), Roku (ROKU), and AMC Networks (AMCX).