With “cord-cutting” seemingly ceaseless and more consumers electing streaming over a cable TV subscription, owning and operating a MVPD-distributed channel has more challenges than ever. But, what if some serious consolidation were to come in that arena?
Based on a report in The Wall Street Journal, such a previously unfathomable merger is in the works, and this has seen David Zaslav and his Warner Bros. Discovery team engage in major talks with David Ellison and his newly ensconced team at Paramount Skydance.
With Paramount and Skydance freshly combined after months of delays in winning regulatory approval, a merger of Paramount Skydance with WBD could trigger a litany of reviews from the federal government — or not.
Some could see WBD and Paramount Skydance’s greatest synergies in Hollywood, with Warner Bros. experiencing a particularly strong Q3. Last weekend’s No. 1 film, The Conjuring: Last Rites, grossed more than $84 million in its cinematic debut; it is a Warner Bros. release. That’s on top of Weapons, which has earned $143 milion for WBD; and Superman, a $353 million blockbuster. Plus, there’s F1: The Movie, which brought in nearly $189 million at the box office.
Paramount’s movie theater prowess is likely under a big review under its new C-Suite team, with the poorly received reboot of The Naked Gun the only film from Paramount Skydance in the top 15 and having earned a paltry $52.3 million across six weeks in cinemas.
The WSJ report, posted mid-afternoon Thursday, was penned by Jessica Toonkel, the journalist who correctly broke the news that TEGNA would be acquired by Nexstar Media Group. According to Toonkel, Paramount Skydance is planning to submit a majority cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. The bid includes the cable TV networks as well as Warner Bros.’ feature film studio.
A combined company would bring CNN, TBS and TNT into the same operation as heritage Viacom brands such as Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and BET.
With minutes remaining in Thursday’s trading on the Nasdaq market, Paramount Skydance shares were up by 14.8% to $17.36; Warner Bros. Discovery shares were up by 29.4%, to $16.23.
