Media Sector M&A On The Rise

In a recent article, The New M&A Trend that is Shaking Up the Media Sector, Forbes reported on M&A deals involving mobile-driven, digital first content companies, a type of transaction which is starting to dominate the M&A deal space. Although the article speaks to several different trends in the sector, it's noted that the most dominant trend involves an uptick in multi-channel network (MCN) deals. The value of these deals multiplied seven-fold between 2013 and 2014—from $200 million to $1.4 billion—and consulting firms are saying these numbers will only continue to grow.

YouTube defines MCNs as "entities that affiliate with multiple YouTube channels, often to offer assistance in areas such as product, programming, funding, cross-promotion, partner management, digital rights management, monetization/sales and/or audience development."  The consideration: a fair chunk of the ad revenue from the channels involved.  While MCNs are not restricted to YouTube and can