Now Streaming: Comcast said to mull sweetened bid for Warner Bros.

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

BID FOR WARNER BROS.: Comcast (CMCSA) CEO Brian Roberts plans to join a second round of bidding next week for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and people with direct knowledge of the matter say that Roberts is weighing a potential offer that could catapult him ahead of rivals with a bid that could possibly reach a valuation of $27 or $28 a share as the company looks to buy just its studio and streaming businesses, according to the New York Post‘s Charles Gasparino. Roberts and his team have not come up with a final number, but if they bid to those levels, it would be “a respectable premium” to the roughly $25 a share bid already placed by Paramount Skydance (PSKY) for the entire company and would also likely surpass the first-round bid made by Netflix (NFLX), which is also vying for the studio and streaming pieces of WBD, the report added.

STRANGER THINGS RELEASE: Netflix crashed for what seemed to be thousands of viewers after the first four episodes of “Stranger Things” season 5 went live for streaming, Engadget’s Mariella Moon reports. Downdetector started getting an unusual number of outage reports at around 10 minutes before 8 PM Eastern time, when the episodes were scheduled to hit the service. The numbers climbed up to almost 14,000 before they went down over the next few minutes, the author notes.

In season 5 of Stranger Things, the Hawkins gang is set to face Vecna one last time, the publication adds. After these first four episodes, Netflix is dropping three more on December 25 and then the finale itself on December 31.

SKEPTICISM: Rosenblatt lowered the firm’s price target on Netflix to $152 from $153, while keeping a Buy rating on the shares after making maintenance updates to its model, including updating for the 10-1 share split completed post-close on November 14. The firm is skeptical that Netflix emerges as the winning bidder for Warner Bros. Discovery, so a potential acquisition does not currently factor into its thesis, though it has added such a possibility to its risks.

DISCRIMINATION: FuboTV said that, “FuboTV (FUBO) has been engaged in good faith negotiations with NBCUniversal (CMCSA) to renew its long-standing content agreement to distribute their networks to consumers. As a result of Fubo not agreeing to NBCU’s demands, which would hurt Fubo consumers, NBCU pulled its networks from Fubo on November 21, 2025… NBCU is spinning off some of their cable networks into a new company called Versant on Jan 1, 2026. Despite them not being worth the cost to Fubo subscribers, Fubo offered to distribute Versant channels for one year. NBCU wants Fubo to sign a multi-year deal – well past the time the Versant channels will be owned by a separate company. NBCU wants Fubo subscribers to subsidize these channels…Earlier this year, Fubo launched Fubo Sports, a cost-effective sports-focused service. NBCU wants Fubo to add expensive, non-sports channels, which will drive up the price paid by Fubo subscribers…NBCU is discriminating against Fubo and our subscribers. They allowed YouTube TV and Amazon Prime video to integrate Peacock directly into their channel store, but refused to give Fubo the same rights. Fubo’s goal is to make Peacock available directly in our channel store so subscribers can access all of their content in one place and seamlessly pay on one bill…Fubo is committed to bringing its subscribers a premium, competitively-priced live TV streaming experience with the content they love. That includes multiple content options, including a sports-focused service, that can be accessed directly from the Fubo app. We hope NBCU reconsiders their stance, or we’ll be forced to move forward without them.”

DISTRIBUTION: TelevisaUnivision, a Spanish-language media company, announced a new multi-year agreement for distribution on YouTube TV (GOOGL). The expanded partnership includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision’s U.S. networks – Univision, UNIMAS, TUDN, and Galavision – on YouTube TV’s Base Plan and Spanish Plan. In addition, ViX will be offered through YouTube’s Primetime Channels – and, for the first time, YouTube will extend its Primetime Channels product to Mexico. The partnership also expands TelevisaUnivision’s collaboration with YouTube through new initiatives that will bring its unique content to a broader audience. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement that restores Univision to YouTube TV, ensuring millions of Hispanics can access the news, sports, and entertainment they care about and have relied on for over 70 years,” said Daniel Alegre, CEO of TelevisaUnivision. “This agreement recognizes the essential role that our content plays in the daily lives of our viewers, as we fulfill our mission of reflecting the voice of Hispanics. We look forward to serving YouTube TV subscribers again.”