AMC Networks Inc Class A AMCX

Fox and AMC Networks: Removing Moats Amid a Challenged Media Industry, but We Still See Value

We’ve removed our narrow moat ratings for both Fox and AMC Networks. Like peers who rely as heavily on traditional pay TV, streaming has disrupted these firms’ business models. We don’t think they can be nearly as profitable in a media industry built on streaming as in the landscape they historically enjoyed. We now have no-moat ratings on Fox, AMC Networks, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Within our US coverage, Disney, and Comcast are the only firms connected to the traditional pay-TV bundle that we still think have moats, and our moat assessment for both firms relies heavily on their nonmedia assets.