Peter Supino, Wolfe Research, joins 'The Exchange' to discuss the issues facing Paramount Skydance.

Peter Supino of Wolf Research outlined Paramount's current challenges, including its smaller scale, lower streaming revenue, and less productive content output compared to competitors. He stated that these factors make Paramount highly motivated to pursue a merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, which could provide growth opportunities but also introduce significant risks such as increased debt and execution challenges.

Supino also commented on the broader media landscape, predicting that the streaming market will remain fragmented for years, with multiple services coexisting. He highlighted live entertainment and music as strong investment areas, naming Live Nation and Spotify as top picks due to their ability to capitalize on growing demand for live events and music streaming.

Paramount highly motivated to get WBD deal done, says Peter Supino

Not to put it too strongly, Peter Cepino joins us now from Wolf Research. Peter, it's great to see you. Let's start with the issues that you see facing Paramount. Well, Paramount has a rich library, but they're competing in a game defined by scale. From a subscale position, Paramount has fewer streaming subscribers. It has a lower revenue per streaming subscriber. And the productivity of the film and TV studio over the last 10 to 20 years has been lower than others in Hollywood. And so while the library is deep from a historical perspective, it hasn't been as productive in recent years. And so for lots of reasons, we think Paramount is actually highly motivated to get this Warner deal done to address some of those scale deficits. That's exactly what I was going to say, is you're making the case for why they need this so badly. Is it a case of if they even if they win, you think they're challenged? Or if they win, would you then say, OK, perhaps they can, you know, do something more exciting in the future? So we think winning, it would be a good outcome for Paramount because we don't love Paramount's standalone prospects. Winning creates more optionality, more upside potential for the Paramount shareholder, but also more risk. I mean, winning means more debt. It means a lot more execution risk. It would challenge the management team to do a lot of things that nobody has ever done before. And so the degree of risk and opportunity on the merger scenario are much greater. Right. I mean, they're only one of two underperforms you really have for the whole space, including Nintendo. You see the video game market not so exciting. You know, before I move on to some of the other areas, like I think it's fascinating that live and music you feel will do quite well. But just to finish the point about the media business, you know, what then happens with this space as there's going, you know, Warner Brothers is going to end up with one or the other of these companies. And then what? So we think that the streaming business, which is really just the downstream distribution of film and television and short form video, ultimately is going to remain a fragmented business. We've had a Netflix bull case around for years that ultimately streaming as a winner take all business because Netflix is, in this case, the best place to monetize content. And our view is that the owners of sports intellectual property, film and television IP have a say. And it's in their interest to keep the distribution landscape fragmented. And for that reason, the NFL renegotiation in 2026 will be a really interesting update. Anyway, however, this merger turns out, we think there are going to be multiple streaming services for many years to come. Right. And you're not necessarily all that jazz. I mean, you basically have a market perform on the whole business except for Disney. You like it for the experiences. And that brings us into the areas that you think are going to do well here. And it's kind of encouraging, right? Like to hear someone say, you know, it's streaming and video games. But where it's at is live entertainment and music and all of these areas. What are the stocks that you like best? Obviously, Live Nation is a top idea. I notice Charlie Brinscoy is a big fan of MSG. You have their stocks to market perform. And then in music, what do you think could do well there from an investment point of view? Well, we think that streaming and social media make the world's best intellectual property of all kinds worth even more. And that hollow out the middle. And so when it comes to sports and music, superstar athletes, superstar musicians, they reach more consumers more quickly, more virally and more frequently in the world in which we exist today. And for those reasons, we think that the value of music, the value of concerts, the value of sporting event tickets, it's all going up. And so one of our favorite ways to monetize that thesis is Live Nation, which is a toll booth on artists' appetite to visit new cities around the world and extend their tours longer and charge more for the seats that they sell. And in parallel, we really like Spotify, which you also show on the screen. And that's a different thesis. We think the value of music itself is going up because streaming is such a better experience. And music is so shareable today. And so Spotify is the best way to stream music on Earth and ought to grow for a very long time.

Four people have been arrested in California - charged with plotting a series of bombing attacks on multiple targets on New Year's Eve.

California

FBI arrests four over alleged New Year’s Eve bomb plot in California

Police in Rhode Island are searching for a new person of interest following Saturday’s deadly shooting at Brown University. Investigators say the case remains active as authorities work to determine a motive.

Providence

New person of interest sought in Brown University shooting

The son of filmmaker Rob Reiner was arrested on homicide charges after the director of beloved movies like "When Harry Met Sally ..." and his wife were found dead in their Los Angeles home, a police official said on Monday.

Los Angeles

Rob Reiner's son arrested after director and wife found dead

A jury found Brian Walshe guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife Ana on New Year's Day in 2023 in their Massachusetts home. Legal analyst Jennifer Roman joins with more details.

Boston

Brian Walshe found guilty of first-degree murder in wife's death

Hong Kong's High Court on Monday (December 15) found pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai guilty of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and to publish seditious material under a China-imposed national security law that could see him jailed for life.

Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong court finds Jimmy Lai guilty in landmark security trial

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. negotiators are meeting in Berlin. As the U.S. grows increasingly pressed to end the four-year war, the peace negotiations continue, with territorial concessions to Russia remaining the "sticking point" for Ukraine.

Berlin

Ukraine Invasion

Zelenskyy offers to drop NATO bid for security guarantees

Police have released a person of interest who was detained in a shooting at Brown University. Two students were killed and at least nine others were injured in the Saturday attack. Tom Hanson spoke with students about the shooting.

Police release person of interest in shooting at Brown University

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy proposed abandoning NATO ambitions in exchange for Western security guarantees during peace talks in Berlin. The move marks a major shift as Kyiv seeks to end the war with Russia without ceding territory.

Ukraine offers to drop NATO bid at Berlin peace talks

Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found dead Sunday in their Los Angeles home, sources told CBS News, in what police called an apparent homicide. Rob Reiner was 78 and Michele Reiner was 68.

Brentwood

Director Rob Reiner and his wife found dead in their L.A. home

Far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast wins Chile's presidential run-off, after defeating his leftist opponent.

Santiago

Far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast wins Chile’s presidential election

The person of interest authorities took into custody in connection with the shooting at Brown University has been identified as Benjamin Erickson. He's a 24 year old, originally from Wisconsin.

Person of interest identified in Brown University shooting

Two alleged gunmen who killed 15 people at a Jewish celebration in Sydney's Bondi Beach were a father and son, police said on Monday, as Australia mourned victims of its worst gun violence in almost 30 years. This video contains graphic images.

Bondi Beach

Father and son behind Bondi mass shooting, Australian police say

Israel has described a deadly mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach as an attack on Jews, after gunmen opened fire during a Jewish holiday event, killing at least 11 people.

Council of the City of Sydney

Israel calls Bondi shooting attack on Jews, urges action on antisemitism

Two gunmen attacked a Hannukah celebration on a Sydney beach Sunday, killing at least 11 people in what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitism and terrorism.

Gunmen kill several at Jewish gathering in Sydney's Bondi Beach

Providence police have detained a "person of interest" in connection with the Brown University shooting that left two students dead and another nine people wounded, as the Ivy League school said it had lifted a shelter-in-place order for its campus in Rhode Island.

Police hold person of interest after Brown University shooting

Belarus has freed more than 120 political prisoners in a major thaw in relations with the United States. The releases came in return for Washington lifting sanctions on potash, a key source of revenue for Belarus.

Minsk

Belarus releases 123 prisoners as U.S. lifts sanctions

Washington was still under a state of emergency on Saturday after torrential rains swamped communities. Plus, snow and dangerous cold are falling on some in the Midwest and on the East Coast. Nicole Valdes has more from Washington state.

Deming

Washington under state emergency as rains ease

China's plans for a massive new embassy in the British capital were delayed until January. Construction plans have proven controversial, with some raising espionage concerns. Ramy Inocencio has more from London.

London

Controversial Chinese embassy construction in London delayed

A United Airlines jetliner lost one of its engines during liftoff from Washington's Dulles Airport bound for Tokyo.

Tokyo

United Airlines flight loses engine during liftoff, sparks brush fire

Thailand says there is no ceasefire with Cambodia, and its military will continue fighting until it faces no further threat. That's despite the US president's earlier announcement that both sides had agreed to stop their attacks. Villages along the border are largely empty, except for a handful of volunteer security guards.

Phnom Penh

Fighting continues along Thai-Cambodia border

U.S President Donald Trump has threatened potential land strikes on Venezuela to target an illegal narcotics trade. Trump says the drugs are arriving on U.S shores and that President Nicolas Maduro is behind it. Maduro has denied the claim.

Caracas

Washington considers Venezuela land assault

King Charles III, who shared his cancer diagnosis with the world in February 2024, announced Friday that he would be scaling back his treatment after his doctors have seen success. The monarch also pushed for people to get early screenings, saying, "Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives."

King Charles to reduce cancer treatments

Belarus has freed more than 100 political prisoners, including a Nobel Peace Prize winner, in exchange for sanction relief on Belarusian potash, a U.S. statement said on Saturday.

Belarus releases political prisoners as U.S. lifts some sanctions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he visited troops fending off Russian advances near the embattled city of Kupiansk that Moscow claimed to have captured last month, which Kyiv denies.

Kup'yans'k

Zelenskyy visits troops as Ukraine claims gained ground near key city

In an audacious move, the EU has decided to indefinitely immobilize the Russian sovereign assets, pushing back against external pressure to release the funds before Moscow agrees to pay war reparations to Ukraine.

Brussels

EU locking in Russian assets for good

U.S. House Democrats released new images from the estate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that feature U.S. President Donald Trump and other high-profile people previously linked to Epstein.

Washington

House Democrats release more Epstein estate photos

For the first time, Amnesty International has accused Hamas and its allies of committing crimes against humanity, following an investigation into the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel. The organization found that 1,221 people were killed and said the mass killing of civilians amounted to extermination.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Amnesty accuses Hamas of 'crimes against humanity' for Oct. 7 attack

The “Architects of AI” were named Time's person of the year Thursday, with the magazine citing 2025 as when the potential of artificial intelligence “roared into view” with no turning back.

Rise of AI

Time magazine names 'Architects of AI' as person of the year for 2025

Message board website Reddit filed a lawsuit on Friday (December 12) asking Australia's High Court to overturn the country's social media ban for people under 16 as well as its inclusion in it, calling the law an infringement of free political expression.

Reddit sues to overturn Australian social media ban

As tensions rise with Venezuela, U.S. President Donald Trump said land operations could start "pretty soon." Sources tell CBS News the administration is also planning more tanker seizures.

Breakdown