AT&T's WarnerMedia & Discovery merger streaming consolidation 2 2

[Bosco685]

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Warner Bros. Television Suspends Top Overall Deals With Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence, Mindy Kaling & More.

 

More than three months into the writers strike, Warner Bros. Television has moved in to suspend the remaining overall deals with some of its top creators. The list includes Greg Berlanti Productions, Bill Lawrence’s Doozer Productions, and Mindy Kaling’s Kaling International, sources said. I hear the calls were made last night. JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot also is in the process of being notified, sources said. John Wells’ Productions’ pact was suspended in June, I hear. Chuck Lorre Prods.’ deal was suspended in the first wave in May, according to sources.

 

The development comes exactly three months after WBTV and other studios started sending out letters to writer-producers under overall and first-look agreements who don’t have series in production or post-production, informing them that their deals are being suspended.

 

[Bosco685]

Oh boy

 

[Bosco685]

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The next entertainment mega deal may be on the horizon.

 

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish held a meeting this week to discuss the possibility of a merger between the companies, Axios reported.

 

A deal, if it comes to fruition, would bring together two of the entertainment industry’s biggest players, with WBD owning the Warner Bros. film and TV studios, HBO, and the former Turner and Discovery cable channels. it also operates the Max streaming service.

 

Paramount owns CBS, Paramount Pictures and its robust film and TV studios, and the former Viacom cable channels.

 

Such a deal would likely attract less regulatory scrutiny than other potential mergers, with WBD lacking any domestic broadcast network, and with mostly synergistic businesses. The biggest source of friction would likely be combining the two legacy film and TV studios.

 

But the synergies would be strong. The CBS broadcast network and its local stations would fill a linear vacuum in WBD’s portfolio, and bolster its sports business, with leagues looking to have broadcast accessibility alongside cable and streaming. Likewise, the CBS Sports and WBD Sports rosters of rights do not overlap (aside from a long-term deal to share March Madness), and it would bring the NFL into the WBD fold.

 

[EastEnd1]

On 12/20/2023 at 5:00 PM, Bosco685 said:

 

 

CNBC was reporting this today.  A combination of CBS and the old Time Warner had been rumored for many years but Sumner Redstone was reluctant to give up control of his network.  With him out of the picture and his daughter Shari facing difficulties managing the Paramount Global business, such a combination becomes more likely, and probably makes a lot of sense... both companies need scale.  And the cost savings would be huge.  Warner Bros Discovery actually makes a very convenient partner for a number of large media players as it doesn't own a broadcast network and a combination with it can more easily pass anti-trust review.  A WBD/PG combination would create a media behemoth that would rival Disney.  Such a merger would likely accelerate other smaller media companies into combinations with larger deep-pocketed players.

 

[Bosco685]

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Warner Bros. Discovery is flirting with the idea of acquiring Paramount Global.

That's the biggest question - how? Is WBD going to cancel everything for a tax write-off to fund the acquisition??

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Why does WB Discovery want Paramount Global?

To quote Sumner Redstone, content is king. Paramount Global has a lot of aging linear assets that are struggling to adapt to a new media landscape – that’s one reason “Ridiculousness” runs nearly 24/7 on MTV these days. But Paramount does have vast vaults of movies, TV shows and other forms of content that can help bulk up WBD’s streaming platforms, and have remake/reboot/reimagining potential in the present IP-crazy marketplace.

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Why is this happening now?

Blame Paramount Global’s stock price decline and David Ellison. Paramount Global became effectively in play last month when reports surfaced that Ellison’s Skydance Media was trying to gain control of Paramount by scooping up some or all of the preferred shares in the company owned by National Amusements Inc. (NAI). That’s the holding company controlled by Shari Redstone, daughter of the late media mogul Sumner Redstone who built up NAI and Viacom and also acquired Paramount and CBS. WB Discovery was forced to act sooner than it would have liked by the heat behind the Skydance discussions.

 

[1Cool]

Even if the two do combine the company will have a cap of 37 Billion which is 1/6th of Netflix and 1/80 of Apple.  I hope the two combine and then a heavy hitter like Amazon or Apple buy them to instantly have a huge backlog of IPs and movies.

[Buzzetta]

It would also bring about a consolidation of streaming services and increase the portfolio of each with minimal effort.  Streaming, as we have mentioned before, is at a downturn for several providers.  This would allow both Paramount and WB a bit more competitive in a very diluted field. 

[Bosco685]

[paperheart]

been brilliant so far

[Gatsby77]

Beat me to it.

Warner Bros. stock hit a 365-day low of $8.29 this morning following their quarterly earnings release.

 

I dumped 20% of my Paramount stock earlier this week on news that Warren Buffett had cut his stake, but I kept all of my WBD stock.

[Bosco685]

[Bosco685]

[shadroch]

On 5/17/2021 at 5:10 AM, ThothAmon said:

Shouldn’t be a problem so long as Disney doesn’t end up owning both Marvel and DC. Think crossing the streams in Ghostbusters. 

That is inevitable, and I'm looking forward to it.  It should have happened thirty years ago.

[Bosco685]

Who would hold onto this burning barn?

[shadroch]

MAX is having a 40% off sale on its annual plans.  You can get one with ads for under $70 a year. The price seems to be good for both new and existing customers so if you are paying more........

[Buzzetta]

On 3/15/2024 at 12:47 PM, shadroch said:

MAX is having a 40% off sale on its annual plans.  You can get one with ads for under $70 a year. The price seems to be good for both new and existing customers so if you are paying more........

Or if you know someone that has an optimum online package and trade them Netflix, Disney+ and things like that, you can run a full optimum package over a verizon fios line using an Apple TV...   

It's great when it is family and we all live in the same town. 

[awakeintheashes]

On 3/15/2024 at 12:47 PM, shadroch said:

MAX is having a 40% off sale on its annual plans.  You can get one with ads for under $70 a year. The price seems to be good for both new and existing customers so if you are paying more........

Ouch… I subscribed to the 4K annual plan when they watered down the plan you get when you subscribe through a provider like DirectTV at the end of December. It was $199 then. $139 under this promo is a good deal. I’d hop on that for anyone who was holding out, especially before GoT comes back. 

[awakeintheashes]

On 3/15/2024 at 7:11 PM, Buzzetta said:

Or if you know someone that has an optimum online package and trade them Netflix, Disney+ and things like that, you can run a full optimum package over a verizon fios line using an Apple TV...   

It's great when it is family and we all live in the same town. 

If 4K doesn’t matter, yeah. That’s what I would recommend doing. They watered down the subscription tier you fall under when you have a sub through a TV provider, so no more 4K content if you access max using one of those subs. 

[Bosco685]

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Warner Bros. Discovery has been in cost-cutting mode — except when it comes to paying top execs.

 

David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, had a 2023 pay package worth $49.7 million, up 26.5% from the year prior, according to the company’s 2024 proxy statement filed Friday. Zaslav’s compensation totaled $39.3 million in 2022, after he received an astonishing $246.6 million (which included $203 million in stock-option grants) in 2021.

 

For 2023, Zaslav had a base salary of $3 million, stock awards valued at $23.1 million, a cash bonus of $22 million and $1.6 million in other compensation (including $705,182 for personal security services and $767,908 for his personal use of the company’s private jet).

 

Edited April 19 by Bosco685