Comcast's split has been a long time coming. And the streaming era made it impossible to put the move off much longer.

Why it matters: Comcast's two core businesses — connectivity and entertainment — have become less synergistic, making it hard for investors to value the company as a whole.

🔌 Flashback: When Comcast acquired 51% of NBCUniversal in 2011 and the rest in 2013, bundling cable channels with broadband access made sense. Now that consumers access content via dozens of different apps and platforms, it doesn't.

• "Where we previously believed that scale and the diversification benefits warranted operating these businesses as one company, we've now simply changed our mind about that," Comcast co-CEO and future NBCU CEO Mike Cavanagh told investors Monday.
• "We've now concluded that future success for each of our businesses will depend on focus, speed and strategic flexibility that this separation will unlock."

📈 State of play: Comcast's stock rallied on news as investors celebrated the strategic rationale behind the split.

• Comcast can invest more in network improvements as its lucrative connectivity business faces growing competition from fixed wireless rivals like T-Mobile and Verizon and fiber giants like AT&T.
• It can explore more opportunities for its cable business to compete with rivals, such as Charter, which merged with Cox earlier this year.
• Bringing back former Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis, a longtime confidant of Comcast chair and co-CEO Brian Roberts, to lead Comcast's connectivity arm will help prepare the unit for a strategic business transformation.

Between the lines: While executives say they aren't planning any major mergers or acquisitions right now, splitting the company could allow Comcast to pursue opportunities without the regulatory pressure that comes with being affiliated with a broadcast media business.

• It will also be separated from the volatility of owning a media business, which depends on cyclical advertising, live events and expensive media rights investments.

At the same time, NBCU can pursue deals and partnerships independently, without considering how they impact Comcast.

• The company, which will be led by Comcast's current co-CEO Cavanagh, could consider more strategic bundle opportunities with other telecom companies, for example.
• It will be "well-positioned to pursue the significant opportunities that lie ahead, to partner across the media and entertainment ecosystem, and will be poised to grow," Roberts said.

💰 The big picture: The Warner Bros. Discovery bidding war showed how eager bigger companies like Netflix are to scale their content libraries, which could provide lucrative merger opportunities for NBCU.

• Spinning out NBCU's cable networks into their own publicly traded company, Versant, made NBCU a more attractive target for firms like Netflix that have no interest in cable assets.
• NBCU's theme park business could give it even more leverage for a possible combination, as more Wall Street and consumer spending momentum moves to live experiences.

The bottom line: For NBCU, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, the deal marks an important step in preserving its legacy.

• 🦚 As a stand-alone entity, NBCU has a better shot at brokering deals to scale its streaming arm, Peacock, which is still not profitable and lags rivals like Netflix and Disney+ on viewership.
• ⛹️‍♂️ Executives can tell a cleaner growth story to Wall Street while also making a stronger case for investing in certain assets, like sports rights.

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The Supreme Court yesterday cleared the way for President Trump to freely fire officials from the Federal Trade Commission and most — though not all — agencies that have long been politically independent.

Why it matters: It is a historic unraveling for agencies that have long been shielded from politics.

• The FTC is responsible for regulating advertising and plays an important role in approving mergers and acquisitions in the agency and ad tech industries.
• With no Democrats set to return to the Republican-led agency, regulatory decisions will be made without real pushback or checks within the building.

⚖️ Zoom in: The case centered on Trump's firing of two Democratic appointees, Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya.

• In a 6-3 ruling, the high court determined the president can fire most independent agencies' officials, except at the Federal Reserve.

🏛️ Reality check: Already we've seen how this FTC handles legal enforcement under the Trump administration.

• Several of the world's biggest ad agencies settled with the FTC earlier this year over allegations of political collusion.
• Omnicom and IPG had to agree to not bar ads based on politics while seeking approval for their merger last year.

Zoom out: The FCC's efforts to target broadcasters deemed critical of the president also speaks to a broader trend of regulatory agencies losing or conceding power to the executive branch during the Trump era.

• FCC chair Brendan Carr has suggested his agency isn't independent and that commissioners who are supposed to independently regulate broadcasters are ultimately governed by the president.

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Cannes Lions' focus on creators has made it a powerful convening platform for Hollywood dealmakers, perhaps even more so than the Cannes Film Festival just a few weeks prior. The trends shaping the festival are indicative of where Hollywood is headed.

• 🇫🇷 The festival isn't moving: Despite rumors that the Lions festival could move to Barcelona as it grows more crowded, there are "no plans" to relocate from its current home in Cannes, France, a spokesperson for the festival's parent company Informa told Axios.
• ✍️ Creators came to close: Last year, creators came to Cannes Lions to party. This year, they came to strike deals.
• United Talent Agency CEO David Kramer said the company had 75 creator clients at the festival this year.
• ⭐️ Talent agencies overshadowed media agencies: As some traditional holding companies, including WPP, dialed back their presence, the talent agencies went bigger. CAA rented out a cafe and set up shop formally for the first time this year. UTA had over 120 clients in attendance.
• 🤳 Tastemaker takeover: The biggest and most visible executions were from tech giants focused on courting influencers and brands.
• YouTube hosted one of the week's marquee parties with Zara Larsson. Meta released its latest line of AI glasses. Spotify, Amazon, Pinterest, Canva and Yahoo staged concerts and programming.
• 🏝️ Streamers didn't own the beach: Netflix continued to host its exclusive Wednesday event at its Cannes headquarters at the JW Marriott. Warner Bros. Discovery welcomed guests aboard its White Lotus-themed yacht. Amazon took over the port again at the far end of the Croisette. TikTok held its Thursday concert and programming at the Carlton hotel.
• 🛍️ Retail media flexes: Amazon and other commerce platforms reinforced retail media as a core pillar of the advertising business. DoorDash Ads partnered with UTA for its exclusive Tuesday party at Hotel Du Cap. Uber Advertising hosted its villa again.
• 💉 GLP won: Agencies were actively pitching clients like Novo Nordisk for business. Health, wellness and longevity took center stage in conversations at the festival and at private events.
• 🇺🇸 American brands shine bright: The 2026 World Cup has helped elevate American brands, food and culture for Europeans, and that was obvious at the festival where locals attended viewing parties alongside Cannes Lions attendees.
• 🏎️ F1 pulls ahead: F1 dominated the zeitgeist at Cannes, with several top drivers appearing on multiple stages. Axios House hosted Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz. Sports continue to play a dominant role at Cannes, with several World Cup watch parties humming at night.
• 📣 Brand safety fizzles: After the pandemic, purpose-led marketing was a major topic of conversation at Cannes Lions. In a new political climate, brands are more focused on making a splash than playing it safe.
• 🤖 AI goes operational: The conversation has shifted from what's possible with AI to how it's reshaped internal workflows, media buying and marketing. Every major platform and brand now has a clear AI strategy and practices and is focused on the next iteration of agentic commerce.
• 🤝 Human relationships trump data: As the advertising industry becomes more automated, buyers are leaning on sellers they trust to test new capabilities and products. Ad tech middlemen are facing pressure to justify their role in an increasingly automated advertising ecosystem.

Reality check:

• 🐝 Overused buzz words: Authenticity, storyteller, creator, fandom, agentic commerce.
• 📉 Expired buzz words: Programmatic, performance-based, purpose, streaming wars.

The bottom line: Cannes Lions has become bigger than Cannes Film. It's been true for a while, but it feels more apparent now that the athletes and influencers have made it a priority to be there.

Axios hosted 20 events across the week with newsmakers across entertainment, tech, news and sports. Here are the biggest headlines from the week:

1. The Atlantic is testing an agentic paywall through its partnership with Parallel AI, publisher Alice McKown told me.
2. People Inc. CEO accused Google of abusing its market power: "We can't actually block Google, because Google uses the same crawler for search as they do for AI, which is like an incredible abuse of market power," CEO Neil Vogel told me.
3. UTA CEO bullish on agency business as creators take Hollywood: "When I started in the agency business, we only did a couple of things" but now "you would be very hard pressed to find clients who want to stay in one lane," David Kramer told me.
4. NYT CEO reveals video ambitions: "We want to be as prepared for watching as we are today for reading and listening," CEO Meredith Kopit Levien told me.
5. Creators don't want to sell their content businesses: "I don't want this to be a business I have and sell. I want this to be a business that I love and keep," Hoda Kotb told Axios' Kerry Flynn.
6. Evan Spiegel says Specs demos coming this fall: While Snap initially focused on the developer community for the Specs launch, Spiegel told me the company will host consumer-oriented events in the fall.
7. Alex Rodriguez said the WNBA is a "hyper-growth" business: "That's a bet that I'm willing to make. That's why we're so bullish with the Lynx," he told me, referencing the Minnesota WNBA team he co-owns.
8. Reddit CEO says platform is a top AI source: Consumers are craving human context in the AI era, Steve Huffman noted, while citing data from Profound.
9. Disney's superstar sprint: Next year, Disney will air the Super Bowl, The Grammy's, The Oscars and College Football Championships within a blockbuster two-month span. The Super Bowl, which will be on Valentine's Day, will air on ESPN in the U.S. for the first time.