The media and telecom sector is seeing major strategic investments in streaming, artificial intelligence, and infrastructure. Disney is increasing its ad-free streaming prices, while Meta and YouTube are integrating advanced AI tools into their platforms. Meanwhile, Paramount settled an antitrust lawsuit over its Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, and JioStar secured satellite capacity for channel distribution.
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Disney+ and Hulu Raise Subscription Prices, Ad-Free Plans Increased to $21 Month
The Walt Disney Company is raising monthly subscription prices for Disney+ and Hulu by as much as 13 percent. Ad-free tiers for both standalone services will cost $21.49 per month, marking a $2.50 increase from the previous rate of $18.99. Ad-supported individual plans are rising by 50 cents to $12.49 per month. The ad-free bundle combining Disney+ and Hulu is moving up by $2 to $21.99 per month, sitting just 50 cents higher than either service on a standalone basis. This pricing structure heavily favors bundling, as the combined package costs almost half of what subscribers would pay for both services separately. The changes represent the fourth round of price increases in four years for the two streaming platforms. For new subscribers, the new rates take effect immediately, while existing customers will see the adjustments on their next billing cycle.
Disney+ Plan Price Changes ($)
Ad-free tier prices rose by $2.50 to $21.49 per month.
Paramount Accelerates California Settlement Talks Near Warner Bros. Merger
Paramount agreed to settle an lawsuit brought by 12 state attorneys general, clearing the final major legal hurdle for its $111 billion of Warner Bros. Discovery. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the agreement on Monday, removing a trial that had been scheduled for a future date. The settlement averts the prospect of Paramount moving operations out of California, a threat CEO David Ellison raised during negotiations that drew concern from Governor Gavin Newsom over potential job losses. Under the five-year consent decree, Paramount must invest $1.5 billion in domestic film production above its 2025 baseline, averaging $300 million annually. The combined company must release at least 30 theatrical films a year for the first two years and 32 annually for the following three years, while maintaining its Los Angeles studio lots. Failing to meet the production quota triggers a $30 million per film penalty and puts Paramount's stake in Miramax in play. The agreement also establishes a five-member independent board to oversee editorial standards at CNN and CBS News, a workforce training fund for laid-off employees, and separate basic-cable negotiations for five years. Paramount expects the transaction to close in about two weeks.
Meta Acquires Stilla.ai to Expand Business AI Agent Capabilities
Meta acquired startup Stilla.ai on September 9 to strengthen the agentic capabilities of its Meta Business Agent [7]. The transaction integrates Stilla.ai's team and technology into Meta's existing business messaging infrastructure, aiming to facilitate commercial transactions across platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp [7]. The coincides with the rollout of Meta's consumer AI agent, Muse, which launched on September 8 and recorded 2.8 million downloads in its first 12 days [3, 5, 7]. Muse offers a free tier alongside subscription [5]. Jefferies estimates that Muse could generate $10.8 billion in annualized if it reaches 1 billion users by the end of 2027 and converts 3% to paid plans [3, 5]. Truist Securities projects the app's additional annual revenue to reach at least $28.5 billion by fiscal 2030 [1]. Meta shares have climbed more than 20% since the Muse launch, adding over $200 billion in market value [3, 4, 5].
JioStar Partners With SES to Expand Indian Video Distribution Network
SES and South Asian media conglomerate JioStar finalized a multi-year agreement on September 21, 2026, to distribute television channels across India and the broader Indian subcontinent. Under the contract, SES will utilize its IS-20 geostationary satellite to broadcast JioStar's of entertainment and sports channels directly to cable headends, direct-to-home operators, and digital broadcast distribution networks. The migration leverages consolidated geostationary capacity following SES's of Intelsat in July 2025. The platform utilizes a high-power digital payload with flexible C-band and Ku-band delivery capabilities, ensuring high-quality transmission and signal resilience against regional weather disruptions. JioStar's combined television network and streaming platforms reach more than 800 million viewers weekly across dense urban hubs and underserved rural regions. SES will continue optimizing its unified orbital to maintain video transmission stability while expanding managed service offerings across the Asia-Pacific region through 2027.
Verizon to Invest $70 Million in AI Workforce Training
Verizon is committing $70 million to a nationwide workforce training initiative called Verizon Skills for America. The program combines $50 million in new funding with an existing $20 million reskilling fund that was initially established last year following a workforce reduction of 13,000 jobs. Participants will gain free access to training resources curated from technology providers including IBM, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, Coursera, and OpenAI. Commercial training of this caliber typically exceeds $700 per person annually. The initiative partners with non-profit organizations such as Goodwill Industries International, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship to deliver local coaching and curriculum . CEO Dan Schulman noted that the program aims to reach hundreds of thousands of individuals to help workers adapt to artificial intelligence integration across the economy.
Verizon AI Training Funding Breakdown ($M)
New funding makes up the majority of the $70 million training initiative.
Discord implements age verification amid community backlash
Techcrunch.com reports that Discord is rolling out age verification measures to all users, following an initial delay in February due to user backlash regarding privacy concerns. More than 90% of users will avoid direct verification by relying on existing account data such as tenure, device activity, and usage patterns to categorize accounts into adult, teen, or unconfirmed groups. The model was trained using reliably confirmed data from regions where age assurance is already required by local law. Users flagged as unconfirmed who want to appeal can do so using a credit card or verification data from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, avoiding biometric or government ID scans. Confirmed adult accounts will experience no changes, but teen accounts will face automatic blocks on age-restricted servers and channels, alongside filtered message requests and alerts for unverified friend requests. Last year, a third-party vendor working with Discord suffered a breach that potentially exposed data for 70,000 users, including government ID photos and selfies.
YouTube Developing AI Tools to Allow Custom User Algorithms
According to techcrunch.com, YouTube announced a new feature on Wednesday called custom feeds that allows users to build their own recommendation algorithm using text prompts. The feature leverages Google's Gemini model to generate feeds based on detailed user descriptions, which can specify content to include, exclude, or prioritize. YouTube states that users will be able to pin these custom feeds to the top of their home page in dedicated tabs, while the platform's main recommendation feed remains unchanged. Emily Moxley, VP of Product Management for Viewer AI, noted during a pre-brief that the YouTube corpus hosts over 20 billion videos. Support for creating multiple custom feeds will roll out across web and mobile platforms starting next month.
Streaming price hikes and heavy AI investments show media firms aggressively pursuing monetization and user retention. However, regulatory scrutiny on megamergers and expanding age verification rules leave execution risks and compliance costs uncertain for the sector.
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