Media Giants Want to Cut the Cord from Cable in 2025

Cable subscribers have been cutting the cord from cable television for years, and now it seems some of America’s major media companies are trying to find a way to get rid of the cords as well in 2025.

Comcast announced plans to spin off its cable channels, including CNBC, USA Network, MSNBC, and the Golf Channel, into its own company called SpinCo, which I hope is just a placeholder until they come up with a more creative name for the new entity.

Warner Bros. Discovery plans to split its cable and streaming businesses, and Paramount Global has held talks about selling BET.  

It seems almost everyone wants to be unburdened from the cable bundle.

With ratings down and revenue looking like it will only continue to go south, it’s no wonder the media giants want out of the cable business. For the past few years, it was assumed that news and sports would keep cable alive, but even that content is shifting to streaming.

Since the election, CNN and MSNBC have lost millions of viewers, but even before the election, cable news was on the decline as more Americans skipped TV news and just doomscroll X (Twitter) and other social networks for news.

The professional sports leagues, including the king of all, the NFL, are all embracing streaming because of money. Technology companies like Netflix and Amazon are willing to pay big bucks for just one or two games.

The NBA ditched its longtime partner, Turner Broadcasting (TNT Sports), for a new deal with Amazon Prime. However, the league did continue its partnership with Disney/ESPN and signed a new deal with NBC.   

The NBA not going all digital shows no one is willing to put all its eggs in the streaming basket yet, but more major sporting events are becoming available online and that will only continue whether the fan likes it or not.

In 2025, ESPN will launch a new streaming service providing live feeds of its linear networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, and SEC Network.

Cable TV has been a cash cow for the media industry, but any business has to go where customers are and the young are streaming.

With the more business-friendly Trump administration taking over in 2025, it’s going to be the perfect time for companies to make moves, including possibly merging their cable businesses with others (Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery, potentially, for example).    

In an industry already facing disruption, 2025 could be one of the biggest years we see change yet.

Chad Whittle, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of mass communication at Georgia College & State University. He holds his Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Georgia College & State University, its administration, faculty, or the University System of Georgia.