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Iger’s Shutdown Timing & Roberts’s WBD Opening

News and notes on how the government shutdown might disproportionately benefit Disney’s ability to close its Fubo deal, and why Comcast co-C.E.O. Brian Roberts still has options to circumnavigate Trump’s perceived veto power on the WBD deal.

brian roberts bob iger
As the Disney–FuboTV deal choreography has demonstrated, companies often cooperate with federal regulators by voluntarily holding off on closing their mergers. The assumption is that a rival bidder like Comcast and its co-C.E.O. Brian Roberts, left, would never overcome Trump’s ire. Photo: Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media/Getty Images
Eriq Gardner
October 28, 2025

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There may be a new unintended consequence of the federal government shutdown: In addition to furloughed employees, lapsed nutritional aid, and interruptions to the Smithsonian’s Giant Panda Cam, The Walt Disney Company may soon be free to close its acquisition of FuboTV. You’ll recall that the deal has been on pause since April, when the Department of Justice opened an inquiry into Disney’s surprise decision, back in January, to buy a controlling stake in the streamer. The D.O.J.’s move was understandable, as I reported at the time, because the arrangement effectively ended a major antitrust fight that Disney had been losing.