Spork3245 Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 https://www.axios.com/2023/12/20/warner-bros-paramount-merger-discovery-streaming Quote Details: The meeting between Zaslav and Bakish, which sources say lasted several hours, took place at Paramount's headquarters in Times Square. *The duo discussed ways their companies could complement one another. For example, each company's main streaming service — Paramount+ and Max — could merge to better rival Netflix and Disney+. *It's unclear whether WBD would buy Paramount Global or its parent company, National Amusements Inc. (NAI), but a source familiar with the situation says that both options are on the table. *WBD is said to have hired bankers to explore the deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 (sigh) Yeah, sure - why not? Might as well continue merrily skipping along this path of megacorp-dominated media dystopia. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 I'd prefer an acquisition by Apple that was rumored. 1 minute ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: (sigh) Don't get me wrong, I'm against consolidation, but Paramount+ is juuuuust below Peacock on the "Streaming services that shouldn't exist" list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkableriots Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 R.I.P. Star Trek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 WBD has $43B in debt. Paramount has $15B in debt. Yea good luck with this lolololol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkStar189 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 WB and HBO teamed up and I dropped them because they raised the price too much for my liking. Wonder how much they will be charging if they team up with Paramount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricofoley Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 It's insane that this article has a whole section about the "synergies" this would create and one of them is just "they would have cop dramas AND cop true crime shows!" It's like the article is cribbed from David Zaslav's powerpoint slides. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Should sell to d1p. Come on Wade let's buy Star Trek! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputator Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Imagine all the shows and movies they'd cancel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spawn_of_Apathy Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 No. this would also have HBO owning CBS, Showtime, and more. Fuck off with corporate consolidation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 The current speculation is that Zaslav isn't actually interested in this tie-up and is floating this idea to force a bid from Comcast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dre801 Posted December 26, 2023 Share Posted December 26, 2023 Star Trek and DC under one roof. Crossover time! Batman and Spock working together, with their combined logic and Batman's prep time, they'd be unstoppable. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted December 26, 2023 Share Posted December 26, 2023 On 12/22/2023 at 1:12 PM, Commissar SFLUFAN said: The current speculation is that Zaslav isn't actually interested in this tie-up and is floating this idea to force a bid from Comcast. I was under the impression that Comcast was seen as an obvious no-go since they already own NBC, same for Disney thanks to ABC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted December 26, 2023 Share Posted December 26, 2023 23 minutes ago, TwinIon said: I was under the impression that Comcast was seen as an obvious no-go since they already own NBC, same for Disney thanks to ABC. Because WBD doesn't own an over-the-air broadcast network, there's no issue with a deal with Comcast or Disney from that perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkableriots Posted December 26, 2023 Share Posted December 26, 2023 4 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: Because WBD doesn't own an over-the-air broadcast network, there's no issue with a deal with Comcast or Disney from that perspective. WBD does have 12.5% of CW so maybe they would need to divest from that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spork3245 Posted December 26, 2023 Author Share Posted December 26, 2023 5 hours ago, TwinIon said: I was under the impression that Comcast was seen as an obvious no-go since they already own NBC, same for Disney thanks to ABC. Why would NBC and ABC matter, but not CBS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkableriots Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 1 hour ago, Spork3245 said: Why would NBC and ABC matter, but not CBS? Yeah, CBS matters in that you can't own CBS and NBC for example. NBC is owned by Comcast ABC is owned by Disney CBS is owned by Paramount 6 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said: Because WBD doesn't own an over-the-air broadcast network, there's no issue with a deal with Comcast or Disney from that perspective. If Comcast buys Paramount, they won't get CBS. The same thing happened with Disney when they bought Fox; they didn't get Fox Channel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spork3245 Posted December 27, 2023 Author Share Posted December 27, 2023 8 hours ago, Remarkableriots said: Yeah, CBS matters in that you can't own CBS and NBC for example. NBC is owned by Comcast ABC is owned by Disney CBS is owned by Paramount Yes, CBS is owned by Paramount, not WBD. WBD is looking to merge with Paramount or Comcast. Paramount is not looking to merge with Comcast. So, again, why would Comcast or Disney be a “no-go” for WBD merger because of NBC and ABC, but not CBS at Paramount? 8 hours ago, Remarkableriots said: If Comcast buys Paramount, they won't get CBS. The same thing happened with Disney when they bought Fox; they didn't get Fox Channel. Zaslav is trying (allegedly) to get a merger for WBD. The merger would be with Paramount or Comcast. Paramount is not the company trying to be merged with Comcast. CBS shouldn’t be relevant in a WBD merger, it would be relevant in a Paramount merger with Comcast or Disney which is not (nor ever was) speculated/rumored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spork3245 Posted December 27, 2023 Author Share Posted December 27, 2023 The one thing that would be weird/interesting if Zaslav/WBD gets the merger with Comcast that they allegedly want is that Comcast has the WWE deal/partnership, while WBD works with AEW via TBS/TNT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 Yeah, I misread that comment. I meant that Comcast and Disney were no goes for buying Paramount because of the network TV conflicts. I assumed that Comcast or Disney buying WBD would be unlikely due to anti-trust fears, even though Disney was able to get the Fox purchase through. I suppose that Comcast is possible, but there would still be some heavy scrutiny, much more than merging with Paramount. On 12/26/2023 at 4:53 PM, Remarkableriots said: If Comcast buys Paramount, they won't get CBS. The same thing happened with Disney when they bought Fox; they didn't get Fox Channel. I could be wrong, but my recollection of that deal is that Murdoch always wanted to keep Fox TV because Fox Corp would continue to be a profitable company (thanks largely to Fox News). It was only Fox Sports that the DOJ prevented Disney from buying. I think it's dubious that a third CBS corp would be in that same position, but I imagine it would entirely depend on what that new CBS ended up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkableriots Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 WBD would still have to get rid of The CW; they own 12.5% of that nationally broadcast network. Or not get whatever network part of the merger they want to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spork3245 Posted December 28, 2023 Author Share Posted December 28, 2023 17 minutes ago, Remarkableriots said: WBD would still have to get rid of The CW; they own 12.5% of that nationally broadcast network. Or not get whatever network part of the merger they want to do. Doesn’t Paramount already own 12.5% of the CW? Merging with WBD would just up their stake to 25%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkableriots Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 1 minute ago, Spork3245 said: Doesn’t Paramount already own 12.5% of the CW? Merging with WBD would just up their stake to 25%. Maybe it doesn't reach enough people for CW to count? Maybe I'm wrong about CW. Anything that reaches 39% of households falls under that rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkableriots Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 This is what I finally found. @TwinIon Quote FCC rules effectively prohibit a merger between any two of the big four broadcast television networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/fccs-review-broadcast-ownership-rules#:~:text=Dual Television Network Ownership,CBS%2C Fox%2C and NBC. Quote There is no limit on the number of television stations a single entity may own nationwide as long as the station group collectively reaches no more than 39 percent of all U.S. TV households. For the purpose of determining compliance with this National Television Ownership rule, television stations operating on UHF channels (14 and above) are attributed with only half (50 percent) of the number of TV households in the DMA, as opposed to 100 percent of the number of households attributed to stations operating on VHF channels (13 and below). This is known as the UHF Discount. Unlike the rules discussed above, the National Television Ownership rule is no longer subject to the FCC's quadrennial review. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spork3245 Posted December 28, 2023 Author Share Posted December 28, 2023 6 minutes ago, Remarkableriots said: Maybe it doesn't reach enough people for CW to count? Maybe I'm wrong about CW. Anything that reaches 39% of households falls under that rule. It might be because they’re minority holders? Or maybe they’d still have to sell the additional 12.5% and that’s the maximum they can hold alongside CBS? I know both Paramount and WBD sold the majority of their CW holdings to Nexstar or whatever and only kept 12.5% each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 It’s “shakeout” time as losses of Netflix rivals top $5 billion ARSTECHNICA.COM Disney, Warner, Comcast, and Paramount are contemplating cuts, possible mergers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkableriots Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 https://trekmovie.com/2024/01/25/skydance-makes-offer-for-paramount-global-star-trek-franchise-could-be-under-new-ownership-again/ Quote The latest update is that talks with David Ellison have progressed the furthest. On Wednesday night, Bloomberg first reported Ellison had made a “preliminary offer” to buy National Amusements. This was backed up by CNBC reporting Ellison wants to take all of Paramount Global private. Skydance, which is a smaller company, would need additional financing for such a deal. It has been speculated that Ellison’s father, billionaire co-founder of Oracle Larry Ellison, could help provide capital for the deal. According to Deadline, Ellison is “mainly interested in the studio but Paramount won’t sell its crown jewel alone.” Fortune reports Ellison and Redstone have discussed selling off the cable assets (like Nickelodeon, MTV, and BET), but “they have assured Redstone they will not break the company up into several pieces and their primary motive is to give it the resources it needs to compete with its larger peers in media.” However, they also report “The fate of the Paramount+ streaming service is uncertain.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputator Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Jesus is someone tapping their phone lines? That's some really detailed insight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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