AdGrowthWeekly | Issue No. 60

One of Hollywood’s largest media mergers is now days away from closing. A federal judge has approved Paramount’s settlement with California and 11 other states, clearing the remaining legal obstacle to its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which is expected to close October 6. The combination will put CBS, CNN, HBO Max, Paramount+, major cable networks and two major film studios under the same company. The settlement includes several conditions: the combined business must spend an additional $300 million annually on U.S. production, maintain theatrical release requirements for five years, and negotiate basic cable distribution separately for Paramount and Warner Bros. networks. Paramount is targeting more than $6 billion in savings from the merger and has named Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz to serve alongside David Ellison as co CEO of the combined company.

Football continues to own some of television’s largest live audiences. During the week of September 21 through 27, NFL games claimed the top four spots on broadcast TV, led by CBS’s national NFL window with 24.9 million viewers, followed by NBC’s Sunday Night Football at 20.8 million. Fox and CBS regional NFL coverage followed with 17.9 million and 17.7 million, while college football added another 18 million combined viewers across two ABC games in the top 10. Sports also drove cable, where ESPN’s Monday Night Football led with 7.6 million viewers, and football accounted for six of the 10 highest-rated cable programs. Outside sports, ABC’s World News Tonight drew 8.4 million, while the MTV Video Music Awards reached nearly 8.2 million on CBS. Overall, 11 of the 12 most watched programs across broadcast and cable aired on broadcast networks, with ESPN’s Monday Night Football the lone cable entry.

The WNBA closed its 30th season with another television milestone. ESPN averaged 1.37 million viewers across 29 regular-season games, up 17% from last year, making 2026 its most-watched WNBA regular season on record. Five games surpassed 2 million viewers, including Indiana Fever vs. Atlanta Dream at 2.58 million, the largest audience ever for a WNBA game on cable. But the growth extended beyond the league’s biggest draws: games without the Fever averaged 984,000 viewers, up 24%, while viewing among 18- to 24-year-olds increased 27% and ages 2 to 17 grew 29%. ESPN’s WNBA Countdown also averaged 595,000 viewers, up 27%, as the league continued building audiences across both live games and studio coverage.

October baseball is returning to a familiar television home. NBC Sports is carrying the 2026 MLB Wild Card Series across NBC, Peacock and NBCSN, marking the network’s first MLB postseason coverage since 2000. The round features up to 12 games across four best-of-three series, with every game available on Peacock and two games each day also airing nationally on NBC. The schedule is headlined by one of baseball’s biggest rivalries, Red Sox vs. Yankees in primetime, alongside Phillies vs. Braves, White Sox vs. Astros and Cubs vs. Padres. NBC is also surrounding the games with a roster of former MLB stars including CC Sabathia, Anthony Rizzo, Joey Votto, Clayton Kershaw and Eric Hosmer across its broadcasts and studio coverage. The Wild Card Series begins a new chapter in NBC’s long history with baseball: the network has televised 39 World Series, more than any other network, and its return gives MLB postseason games distribution across broadcast television, cable, and streaming within the same package.

Playing thousands of miles from home did little to slow down the NFL’s U.S. audience. Baltimore’s 34–31 win over Dallas in Rio de Janeiro averaged 24.9 million viewers on CBS, making it the most-watched international NFL game on record. Viewership climbed above 30 million during the final moments, when Baltimore won on a 56-yard field goal as time expired, while the full CBS Sunday doubleheader averaged 21.45 million, its largest September doubleheader audience since 2014. The Rio audience also topped the 18.5 million viewers who watched the 49ers and Rams play in Australia on Netflix earlier this season. With seven more international games still on the 2026 schedule across NFL Network, Fox and NBC, overseas games are becoming a bigger part of the NFL’s television calendar.