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In the early days of streaming, Netflix and Hulu promised an on-demand viewing experience with an ever-growing library of movies and TV shows, presenting an alternative to the traditional cable bundle.

Today, consumers are cutting the cable cord, but also juggling streaming services, creating a fragmented and confusing experience — and perhaps generating a need for a streaming bundle.

“It could certainly happen if one was focused on one type of demographic and the other, another type of demographic,” Liberty Media Chairman John Malone told CNBC’s David Faber in an interview that aired Thursday. “A Disney+ together with Max might be a pretty decent combination. You might also see sports-related or focused bundles.”

Malone, known in the industry as the “cable cowboy,” is on the board of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of Max. He has previously talked about a future of streaming bundles. But the idea has taken on more urgency of late as media companies try to reach profitability with their direct-to-consumer offerings.

Sports streaming, as Malone noted, is a major piece of the puzzle. Streaming platforms such as YouTube TV, NBCUniversal’s Peacock and Amazon Prime have made the jump and paid the price to stream big-name sports, such as NFL Football. But, exclusive deals keep certain games walled off from those who don’t subscribe to the right streaming service.

For example, Amazon secured exclusive rights to NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” in 2021 for $1 billion a year until 2033. Last year, YouTube TV secured rights for NFL Sunday Ticket for $2 billion annually. Those who don’t subscribe to one or both of these services could be out of luck when trying to view games streamed under these exclusive deals.

“Broadcast continues to survive, but is under real pressure as Big Tech competes for sports,” Malone told CNBC. “The anomaly is that network neutrality creates this world in which Amazon can go buy ‘Thursday Night Football’ for multiples of what the industry has been paying — essentially choking the networks and forcing the distribution companies to spend a lot of money on expanding capacity rapidly.”

This month, Disney announced its plans to buy Comcast’s remaining one-third stake in Hulu. And next month, Disney will launch a combined app that will bundle Disney+ and Hulu content. Disney already offers a three-way bundle plan of Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+, which Disney owns.

The company expects to roll out its direct-to-consumer ESPN offering, essentially the full channel available as a streaming option, in 2025, according to Disney CEO Bob Iger. “We obviously are planning to take ESPN out on a direct-to-consumer basis,” Iger told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin on Wednesday. “We feel great about that.”

Malone also touched on the potential for more cable-streaming bundles, reflecting the resolution of Disney’s spat with Spectrum parent Charter Communications. The companies’ agreement included ad-supported Disney+ and ESPN+ plans in some Spectrum offerings.

“The streaming version with ads will be part of the cable bundle,” Malone, a former Charter board member, told CNBC. “You could buy the stream of ESPN if you want, but why would you pay for it twice? I would much rather see the cable companies be distributors of streaming in bundles and packages, because the two are kind of tied to the hip.”

Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment. Disney didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s next step to gain scale may be looking at distressed assets.

Chief Executive David Zaslav and board member John Malone both made comments this week suggesting the company is paying down debt and building up free cash flow to set up acquisitions in the next two years of media businesses suffering from diminished valuations.

The targets could be companies flirting with or filing for bankruptcy, Malone said in an exclusive interview with CNBC on Thursday. While U.S. regulators may frown at large media companies coming together because of overlaps with studio, cable or broadcasting assets, they’ll be much more forgiving if the companies are struggling to survive, Malone told David Faber.

“I think we’re going to see very serious distress in our industry,” Malone said. “There is an exemption to the antitrust laws on a failing business. At some point of distress, right, then some of the restrictions, they look the other way.”

Media company valuations have been plummeting amid streaming video losses, traditional TV subscriber defections, and a down advertising market. This has affected Warner Bros. Discovery as much as its peers. The company’s market valuation recently fell below $23 billion, its lowest point since WarnerMedia and Discovery merged last year. The company ended the third quarter with about $43 billion in net debt.

Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to position itself to be an acquirer, rather than a distressed asset, itself, by paying down debt and increasing cash flow, Zaslav said during his company’s earnings conference call this week. Warner Bros. Discovery has paid down $12 billion and expects to generate at least $5 billion in free cash flow this year, the company said.

“We’re surrounded by a lot of companies that are – don’t have the geographic diversity that we have, aren’t generating real free cash flow, have debt that are presenting issues,” Zaslav said Thursday. “We’re de-levering at a time when our peers are levering up, at a time when our peers are unstable, and there is a lot of excess competitive – excess players in the market. So, this will give us a chance not only to fight to grow in the next year, but to have the kind of balance sheet and the kind of stability … that we could be really opportunistic over the next 12 to 24 months.”

Still, Warner Bros. Discovery also acknowledged it will miss its own year-end leverage target of 2.5 to 3 times adjusted earnings as the TV ad market struggles and linear TV subscription revenue declines.

Buying from distress

Malone has some experience with profiting from times of distress.

His Liberty Media acquired a 40% stake in Sirius XM over several years more than a decade ago, saving it from bankruptcy. Since then, the equity value of the satellite radio company has bounced back from nearly zero to about $5 per share. Sirius XM currently has a market capitalization of about $18 billion.

“It made us a lot of money with Sirius,” Malone told Faber.

While Malone didn’t name a specific company as a target for Warner Bros. Discovery, he discussed Paramount Global as an example of a company whose prospects seem shaky. Paramount Global’s market valuation has slumped below $8 billion while carrying about $16 billion in debt.

Malone noted that Paramount’s debt was recently downgraded. “I think that they’re running probably negative free cash flow,” he said.

Paramount Global’s third-quarter cash flow was $377 million, and the company has forecast a return to positive free cash flow in 2024.

While Paramount Global shares have fallen precipitously since Viacom and CBS merged in 2019, there are signs the company is shoring up its balance sheet. CEO Bob Bakish said earlier this month Paramount Global’s streaming losses will be lower in 2023 than 2022, and the company expects further improvement to losses in 2024. The company closed a sale for book publisher Simon & Schuster for $1.6 billion and will use the proceeds to pay down debt.

Paramount Global’s fate

Shari Redstone, chair of Paramount Global, attends the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Paramount Global is one of the few assets that logically fits Malone’s vision of a media asset that would have regulatory issues as an acquisition with potential distress concerns. Comcast’s NBCUniversal, another potential merger partner, will lose more than $2 billion this year on its streaming service, Peacock, but the media giant is shielded by its parent company, the largest U.S. broadband provider.

“Warner Bros. [Discovery] now is making money. Not a lot, but they’re making money,” Malone said. “Peacock is losing a lot of money. Paramount is losing a ton of money that they can’t afford. At least [Comcast CEO] Brian [Roberts] can afford to lose the money.”

Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone is open to a transformative transaction, CNBC reported last month. Puck’s Dylan Byers recently reported that industry insiders have speculated Warner Bros. Discovery might pursue an acquisition of Paramount Global after the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

A combination of NBCUniversal and Paramount Global also has strategic logic, but the combination of two national broadcast networks — Comcast’s NBC and Paramount Global’s CBS — would present a significant regulatory hurdle. Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t own a broadcast network, making an acquisition of CBS easier.

Spokespeople for Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment.

While Malone said all legacy media companies should be talking to each other about merger synergies, he acknowledged valuations may have to fall farther to get regulators on board with further consolidation. Malone predicted that could happen in the same timeline Zaslav gave — within the next two years.

“Eventually maybe there’ll be regulatory relief,” Malone said. “Out of distress usually comes the reduction in competition, increased pricing power, and the opportunity to buy assets at a deep discount.”

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.

Tune in: CNBC’s full interview with John Malone will air 8 p.m. ET Thursday.

A judge on Tuesday sided with Paramount Global on certain claims after Warner Bros. Discovery sued earlier this year over streaming rights to long-running animated series “South Park.”

New York state Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chan said that Paramount did not violate state consumer protection laws after its streaming platform, Paramount+, hosted “South Park” specials. The decision follows a February lawsuit, where Warner alleged that Paramount deceptively withheld the specials and other “South Park” content to bolster Paramount+ offerings.

Paramount did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment, while Warner Bros. declined to comment on the matter.

Warner paid $500 million to Paramount in 2019 for the rights to the over-20-season back catalogue of “South Park” episodes to stream on HBO Max, which is now known as Max. Paramount proposed sharing the rights between each of the company’s streaming platforms at the time, which Warner rejected. The series is a staple of Paramount’s Comedy Central channel.

Paramount would later release “South Park: Post Covid” in 2021 and “South Park: The Streaming Wars” in 2022, exclusively on Paramount+. The releases triggered the lawsuit, in which Warner is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars. Warner also alleged that Paramount caused it to overpay under the agreement.

Paramount countersued in April, seeking $50 million in unpaid fees from Warner and denying allegations that the company breached the agreement. The counterclaim would later be dismissed by Chan in October, ruling that Paramount did not make false statements in its description of specials in the original 2019 agreement.

Warner also alleged in its suit that Paramount’s conduct misled customers and created confusion over which streaming platform had rights to the animated series.

Chan threw out this claim by Warner on Tuesday and said the allegation was merely a “private contract dispute” and did “not harm consumers.” Chan added that the complaint or materials offered by Warner failed to prove “deceptive practices” by Paramount.

Warner’s claims of breach of contract, tortuous interference and unjust enrichment are still in play.

Chan ordered a preliminary conference between the two parties on Dec. 13.

Hip-hop music and fashion mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit Thursday with a civil lawsuit accusing him of raping and sex trafficking singer Cassie, his former romantic partner, over the course of a decade.

In addition to Combs, the suit names Bad Boy Records, Bad Boy Entertainment, Epic Records and Combs Enterprises as defendants. 

Combs, one of the most influential and successful executives in music, founded Bad Boy in the early 1990s. He also launched a clothing label, Sean John, and developed the Ciroc vodka brand. As recently as last year, Forbes estimated his net worth at $1 billion.

“After years in silence and darkness, I am finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships,” Cassie said in a statement about her bombshell suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

“With the expiration of New York’s Adult Survivors Act fast approaching, it became clear that this was an opportunity to speak up about the trauma I have experienced and that I will be recovering from for the rest of my life,” said Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura.

The Adult Survivors Act since last November allows accusers a one-year window to file civil claims of sexual abuse that otherwise would be barred by the statute of limitations.

Combs “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,” his lawyer Ben Brafman said in a statement.

“Ms. Ventura’s demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail,” Brafman said. “Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’ reputation, and seeking a pay day.”

Cassie’s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, shot back that Combs “offered Ms. Ventura eight figures to silence her and prevent the filing of this lawsuit. She rejected his efforts and decided to give a voice to all woman who suffer in silence.”

“Ms. Ventura should be applauded for her bravery,” Wigdor added. “No human should have to endure what Ms. Ventura has endured.”

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Cassie’s suit says that in 2005, when she was 19 years old, the then 37-year-old Combs lured the singer into a professional relationship by signing her to his label, Bad Boy Records.

Within several years he induced her into a sexual relationship, and introduced her “to a lifestyle of excessive alcohol and substance abuse and required her to procure illicit prescriptions to satisfy his own addictions,” the suit alleges.

The suit claims that Combs raped Cassie in her home after she tried to leave him, “blew up” another man’s car after learning of his romantic interest in the singer, and often beat and kicked her.

And it says Combs “forced Ms. Ventura to engage in sex acts with male sex workers while masturbating and filming the encounters.”

“Throughout their relationship Mr. Combs was prone to uncontrollable rage, and frequently beat Ms. Ventura savagely,” the suit alleges.

“These beatings were witnessed by Mr. Combs’ staff and employees of Bad Boy Entertainment and Mr. Combs’s related businesses, but no one dared to speak up against their frightening and ferocious boss.”

Cassie’s suit is the latest legal challenge for Combs. Earlier this year, he sued Ciroc owner Diageo for alleged racial discrimination, saying they neglected Ciroc and his tequila brand, DeLeon. The company ended their relationship in June after about 16 years.

Combs also was a close friend of rapper Notorious B.I.G., known as Biggie. He was in Biggie’s entourage, in a separate vehicle, when the rapper was fatally shot in 1997.

It’s rare for Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger to acknowledge his company has had creative missteps. So when he does, it’s probably wise to pay attention.

“As I’ve looked at our overall output, meaning the studio, it’s clear that the pandemic created a lot of challenges creatively for everybody, including for us,” Iger said last week during Disney’s earnings conference call. “I’ve always felt that quantity can be actually a negative when it comes to quality, and I think that’s exactly what happened, we lost some focus.”

Iger followed his comments with a new mandate: Disney will be making fewer films. It’s a similar strategy to one Iger took when he first became Disney CEO in 2005. At the time, Disney’s animation and live-action studio divisions had struggled with a string of failed movies, including including “The Alamo,” and “Home on the Range” and “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie.”

Iger’s solution then was to cut 650 studio jobs and slash its annual movie production output in half, releasing only about a dozen films each year. He also acquired Pixar, giving Disney an immediate infusion of quality movies and a brand of storytelling that rubbed off on Disney’s traditional animation studio.

Iger appears to be re-running the playbook for 2024. After flooding Disney+ with movies and other new content for several years, Iger is strategically cutting back to accelerate free cash flow generation and profitability. Disney eliminated animation jobs in June — the first significant cuts in about a decade — as part of a larger round of job reductions. After releasing four Marvel Cinematic Universe movies in 2021 and three in 2022 and 2023, Disney will have just one in 2024 — “Deadpool 3.” There hasn’t been a Star Wars movie since 2019′s “The Rise of Skywalker.”

In 2006, acquiring Pixar quickly improved Disney’s film quality and box office results. The animators’ blend of technology and storytelling rubbed off on Disney’s traditional animation unit, eventually leading to hits including “Frozen” and “Zooptopia.” This time, Disney will need to improve organically, putting pressure on Iger and studio head Alan Bergman to show results as activist shareholders Trian Partners and ValueAct threaten to pressure management and the board.

“I feel good about the direction we’re headed, but I’m mindful of the fact that our performance from a quality perspective wasn’t really up to the standards that we set for ourselves,” Iger said last week. “And so working with the talented team at the studio, we’re looking to and working to consolidate, meaning make less, focus more on quality. We’re all rolling up our sleeves, including myself, to do just that.”

Iger noted the Disney animation studio’s next release, “Wish,” which stars Ariana DeBose and debuts in theaters on Wednesday, could begin a run of sustainable hits for Disney. Early ticket sales suggest “Wish” is tracking at $55 million for the Wednesday to Sunday period including Thanksgiving. That trails previous Thanksgiving openers from Disney movies including “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Coco,” “The Good Dinosaur” and “Tangled” but is higher than the $18.9 million brought in from “Strange World” last year and the $40.6 million from “Encanto” in 2021, according to data from Comscore.

Disney’s box office blunders

Rupert Murdoch is being deposed Tuesday as part of the $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed against Fox Corp. by the voting technology company Smartmatic, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Murdoch is expected to sit for questioning in Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the source.

It is the second time this year that Murdoch, 92, has been deposed in a high-stakes defamation lawsuit accusing Fox News of airing damaging lies about the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Under questioning in January as part of a similar defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, Murdoch admitted that some Fox News hosts and personalities “endorsed” the false narrative that the election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump.

Fox paid $787.5 million to settle Dominion’s lawsuit, nearly half the $1.6 billion figure initially demanded by the voting company.

Smartmatic’s lawsuit accuses Fox and a handful of its hosts and guests of knowingly lying, or acting with reckless disregard for the truth, by entertaining or endorsing the false claim that the company rigged the election for President Joe Biden over Trump.

Smartmatic, which is suing in New York Supreme Court, is seeking “in excess of $2.7 billion” in damages it says were caused by the defendants’ “disinformation campaign.”

Murdoch is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, which was filed against Fox personalities Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro and former opinion host Lou Dobbs. Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani and pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell are also included as defendants.

A New York appeals court in February declined an attempt by Fox to dismiss the defamation suit.

Murdoch officially stepped down as chair of Fox and News Corp. earlier this month, putting his son Lachlan in charge of both. The elder Murdoch is now chairman emeritus of the companies.

Fox spokesman Brian Nick declined CNBC’s request for comment on Murdoch’s latest deposition.

Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger told employees Tuesday during an internal town hall that he is looking forward to “building again” after spending 2023 mending parts of the business that “needed attention.”

“I feel that we’ve just emerged from a period of a lot of fixing to one of building again, and I can tell you building is a lot more fun than fixing,” said Iger, who was interviewed by ABC News anchor David Muir at New York’s Amsterdam Theater. After speaking alone for about 15 minutes, Iger was joined by Disney head of parks and resorts Josh D’Amaro, ESPN chief Jimmy Pitaro, and Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman.

Disney’s 2023 has been defined by 7,000 job cuts and a company-wide mission to cut spending. Disney said this month it projects to save $7.5 billion this year, largely through job elimination and content spending rollbacks.

Iger noted he acquired Pixar and Marvel in the early part of his tenure as Disney’s CEO, which began in 2005, to jumpstart an era of building at the company. This time, Iger won’t rely on acquisitions. Rather, he plans to expand Disney’s theme parks with a $60 billion commitment over the next 10 years, build an ESPN direct-to-consumer platform no later than 2025 and rebuild Disney’s movie studio business, which Iger said has suffered from making too many films.

Iger and Pitaro said they want to launch an ESPN streaming service with additional features such as advanced statistics and integration with fantasy sports to appeal to a younger audience. Pitaro is conducting research on how expensive to make the platform and when to launch, he noted.

“What Bob and I have talked about is we don’t just want to flip the switch,” Pitaro said. “We don’t want to just move our networks over and make them available over the top without significant product enhancements.”

Fixing the studio business

Iger and studio head Bergman acknowledged the quality of Disney films has suffered, while they emphasized the importance of movies for the entire company.

“When it comes to creating a perception of the company, nothing is more powerful than movies,” Iger said. “That’s perception among investors, perception among the audience, obviously consumers and also perception among our own employees.”

Iger noted that a string of hit movies can make people at Disney “giddy,” not only because the company’s brand is elevated within the culture, but also because of the synergies that flow through the business. A movie such as “Frozen” can churn out profitable sequels, boost Disney’s streaming service Disney+, set the foundation for theme park attractions and jumpstart consumer products.

Disney shares have risen 6.8% this year, underperforming the S&P 500, which is up about 18%. Iger is optimistic about Disney’s chance to build in 2024. But it’s unclear if investors will reward the company without more dramatic changes, such as selling off the company’s declining linear businesses or finding strategic partners for ESPN.

Iger acknowledged he’s still considering those options, but hasn’t made a decision on a path forward.

WATCH: Disney holds annual town hall amid stock declines

Activist investor Nelson Peltz and his firm are seeking more than two seats on Disney’s board, according to a person familiar with the matter, setting the stage for a proxy fight.

Trian Fund Management, which Peltz co-founded, said Thursday morning that it “intends to take our case for change directly to shareholders.”

Disney, for its part, suggested the proxy fight stemmed from a personal grudge held by one of Peltz’s allies, former Marvel boss Ike Perlmutter.Trian said Disney earlier in the day offered to set up a meeting with the entertainment giant’s board, but rejected Trian’s bid to join the board, including the addition of Peltz. Trian did not note in a statement how many seats it plans to seek.Trian declined to comment beyond its statement.The news came the morning after Disney added Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky TV boss Jeremy Darroch to its board, a move widely seen as a bid to fend off a potential challenge from Peltz. Former Illumina CEO Francis deSouza will not seek reelection to the board.“While James Gorman and Sir Jeremy Darroch represent an improvement from the status quo, the addition of these directors will not, in our view, restore investor confidence or address the root cause behind the significant value destruction and missteps that this Board has overseen,” Trian said in a statement.

Disney shares are up about 6% this year, far underperforming the S&P 500. The stock was flat Thursday. Later in the day, the company said it would reinstate its dividend at 30 cents a share for shareholders of record as of Dec. 11, payable Jan. 10. Iger had said earlier this year Disney would bring back the dividend, which it suspended in early 2020 during the first days of the pandemic.Trian said it owns about $3 billion in Disney stock. The firm has oversight of shares owned by former executive Perlmutter, a critic of Disney chief Bob Iger whom the company fired earlier this year.Disney fired back Thursday, saying Perlmutter has an ax to grind against Iger. Perlmutter has long complained that Disney had spent too much.“Mr. Peltz, in partnership with Isaac Perlmutter, a former Disney executive, intends to take its case to shareholders. Mr. Perlmutter owns 78% of the shares that Mr. Peltz claims beneficial ownership of, or more than 25 million of the 33 million shares,” Disney said in a statement.“This dynamic is relevant to assessing Mr. Peltz and any other nominees he may put forth as directors, as Mr. Perlmutter was terminated from his employment by Disney earlier this year and has voiced his longstanding personal agenda against Disney’s CEO, Robert A. Iger, which may be different than that of all other shareholders,” the company added.Peltz had earlier pushed for a seat on Disney’s board after Trian took an approximately $800 million stake in Disney. After Iger unveiled a broad restructuring of the company in February, enacting layoffs and cost cuts, Peltz backed off a proxy fight.But Peltz reignited his push in the lead-up to Disney’s quarterly earnings report earlier this month. The activist investor had been waiting to see what happened with the report to decide whether to make a move, CNBC previously reported.Iger on Tuesday said he was focused on “building again” and intends to focus efforts on theme parks, ESPN’s upcoming streaming service and improving the studio business.– CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this report.

Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said Wednesday he will no longer tolerate his company’s partners and creative team prioritizing messaging over storytelling.

“Creators lost sight of what their No. 1 objective needed to be,” Iger said at the DealBook Summit in New York on Wednesday. “We have to entertain first. It’s not about messages.”

Iger has recently pushed to improve the quality of Disney films in 2024 and beyond. He is cutting back the number of movies Disney makes to focus on making better films. Earlier this week, he told Disney employees at a town hall that creating hit movies is the best way the company can change perception for investors and employees.

Iger said Disney’s prioritization of messaging over storytelling peaked “while [he] was gone” in 2022, alluding to the 11 months he left his job as Disney’s executive chairman. Iger had been in charge of “creative endeavors” in 2020 and 2021, even while Bob Chapek ran the company as CEO.

“We have entertained with values and with having a positive impact on the world in many different ways. ‘Black Panther’ is a great example of that,” Iger said. “I like being able to entertain if you can infuse it with positive messages and have a good impact on the world. Fantastic. But that should not be the objective. When I came back, what I have really tried to do is to return to our roots.”

Disney has dealt with blowback from Republican politicians, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and critics on social media for including a same-sex kiss in 2022′s “Lightyear” and an openly gay character in 2022′s “Strange World.” 2023′s “Elemental” also includes a nonbinary character.

While Disney has a long history of infusing storytelling with positive morals, Iger acknowledged during Disney’s earnings conference call earlier this month that he believes the company’s storytelling has suffered as the company has increased the number of movies it’s made for both Disney+ and theatrical release. Iger reiterated that he has emphasized to his creative executives and production partners that making engaging stories has to be Disney’s first priority.

“I’ve worked hard since I’ve been back to reminding the creative community who are our partners and our employees that that’s the objective,” Iger said. “And I don’t really want to tolerate the opposite.”

Iger’s comments come as Disney faces pressure to turn around its business and boost its share price. Sustained box-office troubles, including the recent disappointing showings of “The Marvels” and the animated film “Wish,” have weighed on the company’s performance.

Activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management said in a statement Thursday it will move forward with an effort to nominate new directors to the Disney board, concluding that “investor confidence is low, key strategic questions loom, and even Disney’s CEO is acknowledging that the Company’s challenges are greater than previously believed.” Trian will seek multiple board seats, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Disney named two new board members on Wednesday — former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch — as it gears up for a potential proxy fight. Current Disney board member Francis A. deSouza won’t run for reelection at the annual meeting.

Media stocks jumped Friday following a Wall Street Journal report that Apple and Paramount Global are in early-stage talks to offer a bundle of the two company’s streaming platforms.

The companies have talked about bundling Apple TV+ and Paramount+ in an offering that would cost less than subscribing to the two separately, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Shares of Paramount closed up nearly 10% Friday, while Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns streaming service Max, closed up more than 8%. Paramount is down about 6% on the year, while Warner Bros. Discovery, which reported a streaming profit in the third quarter, is up about 19%.

Apple and Paramount did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Paramount+ and Apple TV+ could be an ideal match for a bundle given their differing content strategies. Apple TV+ is known to offer a robust library of exclusive and prestige content, while Paramount+ boasts a larger back-catalog of recognizable TV shows and movies.

The report comes as talk heats up in the media industry about bundling rival streaming services together.

Streaming leader Netflix and Max entered into an agreement with Verizon to bundle the two services at a reported $10 a month, less than the $17 the combination would normally cost, the Journal previously reported. Liberty Media Chairman and Warner Bros. Discovery board member John Malone has often discussed what streaming bundles could look like. Disney currently offers a bundle of Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+.

The trend has extended beyond streaming. Following a dispute earlier this year, Disney and Charter entered into an agreement where some Spectrum customers would gain access to the ad-supported Disney+ plan, a move some experts predict could become more common.

An Apple partnership could be a strong opportunity to help Paramount pivot in the rapidly changing media environment. Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone has been open to making big deals, CNBC has reported, as the company suffers from declining revenue and streaming losses.