Emily Call
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Big streaming moves. Bigger holiday traffic.

Big streaming moves. Bigger holiday traffic.

Emily Call
December 12, 2025

Big Moves, Busy Networks, and a Season Built on Connection

The holidays are here, and so is the annual reminder that streaming isn’t just entertainment, it’s community infrastructure. In this edition, we’re looking at the forces shaping what your customers will expect next and what your networks will need to handle now. From Netflix’s blockbuster move to bring Warner Bros. studios and HBO Max into its orbit, to MediaKind and Harmonic joining forces on the infrastructure side, the streaming stack is consolidating fast, and the ripple effects will reach every operator. We also share our Holiday Survival Guide for ISPs, because this season brings new devices, bigger traffic peaks, and a whole lot of people counting on you to keep things running smoothly. Toss in sports streaming battles, Spotify’s video push, and the latest bundle turbulence, and you’ve got a market moving at holiday-movie speed. As always, we’re here to help you stay ahead of the curve and keep your communities connected.

Netflix buys Warner Bros. studios + HBO Max, and the whole streaming ecosystem will feel it

Netflix has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and television studios along with HBO, HBO Max, and the broader streaming business, in a deal valued at about $72 billion in equity (about $82.7 billion including debt). Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable networks like CNN and TNT are not part of the sale and are slated to be spun off separately before the transaction closes. The acquisition is expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete, pending regulatory review.

For our community of video operators, infrastructure partners, and everyone keeping streaming reliable at scale, this is a major map redraw. When a platform as big as Netflix folds in a studio and service as iconic as Warner Bros. and HBO Max, it changes the gravity of the market: content pipelines concentrate, platform strategies tighten, and the stakes on new releases get bigger. That matters to the people who build, deliver, and support the experience, because bigger moments bring bigger viewing peaks, bigger expectations, and a faster pace of change. Our job together, as always, is to stay close to what customers need, keep watching how these shifts affect distribution and delivery, and help the next chapter of streaming stay strong, practical, and human-centered.

Holiday Survival Guide for ISPs

December might feel like a quiet month, but for ISPs, it’s the opposite. When schools close, and families pile into the living room, networks get hit with a holiday-perfect storm: new devices coming online, marathon streaming sessions, and everyone expecting their favorite movies to play without a hiccup.

In our latest Whitepaw podcast, Jean and Emily share a practical Holiday Survival Guide built for the realities you’re facing right now. They talk through how to prep for seasonal traffic spikes (think Super Bowl-level demand, just stretched across weeks), why being proactive with customer communication matters, and how managed in-home Wi-Fi can reduce truck rolls and support strain when it’s freezing outside. Most of all, it’s a reminder that this season is about people. Supporting your customers well is important, and so is supporting each other as teams. A little grace, coordination, and humor goes a long way when things get busy.

Give it a listen here

Fubo drops prices after losing NBCUniversal channels
A real-time look at how live TV streamers are handling carriage disputes and churn pressure. Useful signal for operators watching the economics of sports-first bundles and the shifting pay-TV-to-streaming landscape.
Spotify is going bigger on video
Spotify’s push into video podcasts and music video experiences shows how fast video is bleeding into every platform. More formats and more competition for attention means more streaming volume and new delivery expectations.
As pay TV slides, sports streaming battles heat up
Sports is accelerating the move from linear to streaming-first, and the platform wars around rights will drive bigger peak events, lower-latency demands, and new bundling plays that affect everyone downstream.

MediaKind + Harmonic video business are joining forces

MediaKind has made a binding offer to acquire Harmonic’s Video Business for about $145 million in cash, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2026 pending customary approvals. The goal is to combine two established video technology portfolios into a larger, independent streaming-infrastructure platform spanning cloud/SaaS streaming services and appliance-based video tech. Harmonic says the sale lets them sharpen focus on their broadband core, while MediaKind positions the combined company as a stronger, more stable long-term partner for operators.

For our community, this is another clear signal that the vendor landscape is consolidating. Fewer, broader platforms can mean tighter integration and faster roadmap progress, but also a little more gravity around switching decisions. If you’re mapping out your 2026 video stack, this is worth keeping on your radar as the dust settles.