Why 'Old School' Media Stocks Are Getting Killed Today

Media stocks sold off broadly on Tuesday morning after news of a sector downgrade from Wells Fargo began to circulate.

Walt Disney Co DIS, 21st Century Fox-A FOXA and CBS Corporation Class B CBS all traded down more than 1 percent after Marci Ryvicker and her team of analysts cut their view on the diversified media sector to Market Weight. Wells Fargo downgraded Fox, CBS and Disney, which were previously rated at Outperform.

On Disney, the bank said the entertainment has "slowed...but it really isn't broken," TheStreet reports. Wells Fargo also highlighted Disney's lightened guidance for "Star Wars"' international footprint and the coming Shanghai Disneyland park as things to watch going forward.

CBS and Fox could also be hurt from lower expectations and an industry in which ratings are in broad decline. Nielsen data shows young people are watching less television.

A Better Play?

Of note, Netflix, Inc. NFLX has significantly outperformed Disney, Fox and CBS year-to-date. The latter three have averaged a return of -5.6 percent in 2015, while Netflix is up 154 percent.

Netflix is just one streaming video alternative to traditional TV networks, but it's arguably the only pure-play available at the moment. Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, which has Amazon Prime, offers investors a far more diversified media and commerce company, while Hulu is not public.