4 Broadcast Radio & TV Stocks to Watch From a Challenging Industry

The Zacks Broadcast Radio and Television industry has been grappling with an escalation in cord-cutting despite a surge in demand for streaming content. However, industry players, such as Netflix NFLX, Fox FOXA, Roku Inc. ROKU and Sirius XM SIRI, are reaping the benefits of a massive spike in digital content consumption. These companies are thriving due to their diverse content offerings, which include original, regional and short-form content tailored for small screens like smartphones and tablets. Improved Internet speed and penetration, coupled with technological advancements, have been advantageous for industry participants. As monetization and revenues from advertising spending continue to be modest, strategies focused on profit protection, cash management and greater technology integration have gained significance and are expected to aid these companies in driving top-line growth in the near term.

Industry Description

The Zacks Broadcast Radio and Television industry encompasses companies that provide entertainment, sports, news, non-fiction and musical content across television, radio and digital media platforms. These entities generate revenues through the sale of television and radio programs, advertising slots and subscriptions. With technological advancements and a growing demand for virtual reality and Internet radio, industry players are increasing their investments in research and development, as well as sales and marketing efforts, to remain competitive. The industry's focus is likely to shift toward sustaining current levels of operations, coupled with a renewed emphasis on flexibility. This approach would accelerate the transition to a variable cost model, thereby reducing fixed costs and enhancing agility in the face of evolving market dynamics.

4 Broadcast Radio and Television Industry Trends to Watch

Shift in Consumer Preference a Key Catalyst: To adapt to the evolving landscape, companies are diversifying their content offerings for over-the-top (OTT) services alongside traditional linear TV. The availability of streaming services across a wide range of platforms has enabled them to reach a global audience, expand their international user base and attract advertisers to their platforms, thereby boosting ad revenues. The utilization of services that aid advertisers in measuring their return on investment and enhancing use cases is expected to benefit industry participants. Major leagues and events, such as the NFL, NHL, Olympics, European Games, EPL and elections, also contribute significantly to ad revenue generation.

Increased Digital Viewing Fuels Content Demand: Many industry participants, either launching their own OTT services or acquiring existing ones, leverage user insights to deliver tailored content. The surge in digital viewing has made consumer data readily available, allowing companies to apply artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques to create or procure targeted content. This approach not only boosts user engagement but also enables industry players to raise the prices of their services at opportune moments without the fear of losing subscribers.

Uncertain Macroeconomic Landscape Impedes Production and Ad Demand: Advertising is a significant revenue source for the Broadcast Radio and Television industry. However, industry participants are grappling with the effects of persistently high inflation, rising interest rates, increased capital costs, a soaring U.S. dollar and the looming threat of a recession. These factors have prompted advertisers to trim their ad budgets, which is expected to impact the top-line growth of industry players in the near term. Moreover, intense competition for ad dollars from tech and social media companies has been a significant impediment to the growth of industry participants.

Low-Priced Skinny Bundles Impact Revenues: The surge in cord-cutting has compelled industry participants to offer "skinny bundles." These Internet-based services often contain fewer channels than traditional subscriptions and are, therefore, more affordable. This move aligns with changing consumer viewing dynamics, as growth in Internet penetration and advancements in mobile, video and wireless technologies have boosted small-screen viewing. While these alternative services are expected to keep users engaged with their platforms, increasing the need for additional content, the low-priced skinny bundles are likely to dampen the top-line performance of industry players.

Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Dull Prospects

The Zacks Broadcast Radio and Television industry is housed within the broader Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector. It currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #169, which places it in the bottom 30% of more than 250 Zacks industries.

The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates dismal near-term prospects. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than two to one.

The industry’s position in the bottom 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries results from a negative earnings outlook for the constituent companies in aggregate. Looking at the aggregate earnings estimate revisions, it appears that analysts are pessimistic about this group’s earnings growth potential.

Despite the gloomy industry outlook, a few stocks are worth watching, as these have the potential to outperform the market based on a strong earnings outlook. But before we present such stocks, it is worth first looking at the industry’s shareholder returns and current valuation.

Industry Beats Sector, Lags S&P 500

The Zacks Broadcast Radio and Television industry has outperformed the broader Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector but underperformed the S&P 500 Index in the past six-month period.

The industry has plunged 14.3% over this period compared with the S&P 500 and the broader sector’s decline of 4.6% and 15.5%, respectively.

6-Month Price Performance

Industry's Current Valuation

On the basis of trailing 12-month Enterprise Value/ Earnings before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortization (EV/EBITDA), which is a commonly used multiple for valuing Broadcast Radio and Television stocks, the industry is currently trading at 8.47X versus the S&P 500’s 16.52X and the sector’s 9.05X.

In the past five years, the industry has traded as high as 15.53X and as low as 4.91X, recording a median of 8.47X, as the chart below shows.

EV/EBITDA Ratio (TTM)

4 Broadcast Radio and Television Stocks to Buy

Roku enters 2026 on a solid fundamental footing. February 2026 guidance targets full-year Platform revenue growth of 18% year over year to $4.890 billion, total net revenues of $5.500 billion, and adjusted EBITDA of $635 million, reflecting 267 basis points of margin expansion. Roku is on track to reach 100 million streaming households globally in 2026. In March 2026, its $2.99 per month ad-free SVOD service, Howdy, made its first expansion beyond the Roku ecosystem, launching on Amazon Prime Video. AI-powered home screen enhancements, growing programmatic advertising capabilities and the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 are driving international subscriptions further to strengthen the fundamental growth outlook for this Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings has moved north by 59.1% to $2.10 per share in the past 60 days. Roku shares have lost 8.9% in the past six-month period.

Price and Consensus: ROKU

Netflix enters 2026 with robust, company-issued guidance for full-year 2026 with revenues expected between $50.7 billion and $51.7 billion, reflecting 12-14% year-over-year growth. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company targets a 31.5% operating margin, driven by improving cost efficiencies. Advertising revenues are set to roughly double to approximately $3 billion, powered by a rapidly scaling ad-supported membership tier. With more than 325 million paid members globally, Netflix commands a broad and durable monetization base. The 2026 World Baseball Classic became the most-watched program ever on Netflix in Japan, validating its live events strategy and international reach. In February 2026, NFLX demonstrated capital discipline by walking away from an overpriced acquisition deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings has moved north by 1% to $3.17 per share in the past 60 days. NFLX shares have declined 17.3% in the past six-month period.

Price and Consensus: NFLX

Fox Corporation enters 2026 with compelling growth catalysts. This Zacks Rank #3 company holds U.S. broadcast rights to the FIFA World Cup 2026, positioning it for a significant advertising revenue surge. Tubi, now serving 100 million monthly active users and streaming over one billion hours monthly, reinforces FOX's digital monetization engine. In February 2026, Tubi Media Group's Red Seat Ventures acquired Supercast, expanding creator-focused subscription monetization. Cable Network Programming distribution revenues grew 5% in the fiscal second quarter, driven by contractual price increases. A $3.6 billion share repurchase authorization and a declared 28 cents per share dividend signal management's confidence in strong free cash flow generation.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 earnings has moved north by 5.3% to $4.60 per share in the past 60 days. FOXA shares have lost 5.9% in the past six-month period.

Price and Consensus: FOXA

SiriusXM enters 2026 with strong fundamental momentum. Management guidance targets approximately $8.5 billion in revenues and $1.35 billion in free cash flow, paving the way toward the $1.5 billion 2027 goal. In February 2026, this Zacks Rank #3 company refinanced near-term debt through a $1.25 billion offering of 5.875% Senior Notes due 2032, extending maturities and improving financial flexibility. March 2026 brought an aggressive content expansion, with exclusive new channels for Morgan Wallen, BTS and John Summit, plus NCAA basketball coverage. With 360L penetration growing across the in-car fleet and Companion Plans broadening household reach, SIRI's fundamentals point toward a rewarding 2026.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings has moved north by 0.3% to $3.09 per share in the past 60 days. In the past six-month period, SIRI shares have returned 2.1%.

Price and Consensus: SIRI

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Netflix, Inc. (NFLX): Free Stock Analysis Report

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (SIRI): Free Stock Analysis Report

Fox Corporation (FOXA): Free Stock Analysis Report

Roku, Inc. (ROKU): Free Stock Analysis Report

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