Morgan Stanley's bullish media take favors DIS, LGF.A, MSG, VIA

• Morgan Stanley thinks a dicey media sector now looks "attractive" (a lift from a previously cautious outlook) and has named top picks in the area, including Walt Disney (DIS +0.2%), Lions Gate (LGF.A -0.7%), Madison Square Garden (MSG +1.3%) and Viacom (VIA +0.3%, VIAB +0.6%).
• Analyst Benjamin Swinburne pointed to rapid consolidation in the sector, as well as distribution revenue growth that was speeding up, cheap valuations and "resilient" TV advertising.
• As content companies and "pipes" companies continue to explore consolidation, it seems content is king with Swinburne, who prefers those firms to distribution companies.
• In that area: Viacom has a nice risk/reward tradeoff with Paramount under-earning, and some "low-hanging fruit" to improve distributor relations. As for Disney, he sees it as the biggest content beneficiary of the newest streaming bundles.