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[Draugoth]

Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global in Merger Talks

Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global have held talks about a potential merger of the two media companies, Variety has confirmed.

variety.com

Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global have held talks about a potential merger of the two media companies, Variety has confirmed.


Reps for Paramount Global and WBD declined to comment.


Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had a meeting with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish on Tuesday in New York City to discuss a possible merger, sources said. Axios first reported the talks.


Zaslav also has spoken to Shari Redstone, whose National Amusements owns a controlling stake in Paramount Global, about a possible combination of the comapnies.


Redstone has been in talks to sell her shares in NAI, according to multiple reports. Redstone discussed a sale of her NAI stake with Skydance Media CEO David Ellison, who has teamed with private-equity firm RedBird Capital, and she separately met with departing Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick about a possible deal, the Journal reported. Meanwhile, Paramount Global management has considered laying off more than 1,000 staffers in early 2024 to cut costs, per the Journal.

 

[LordCBH]

zaslsv isn’t satisfied ruining only one service?

 

[NeoGiffer]

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Is there a way WB can solve its debt problem? Only by merging with a tanking company

 

[DeepEnigma]

Joy, more global consolidation of self-inflicted wounds.

Seems almost by design, this constant.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

The consolidation age continues.

 

[Rentahamster]

When the means to survival is through forming monopolies rather than creating better goods and services.

 

[TransTrender]

LOL
Fucking trash

Suits and lawyers get a payday, and then regular people are out of a job from the shitty moves of their CEOs

Get bent, block it, let them die

 

[jshackles]

So we're basically going back to the cable TV model with streaming services, huh?

 

[squeakywheel]

This seems too big a merge. Hope it gets blocked

 

[StealthGoblin]

This seems too big a merge. Hope it gets blocked

Disney was allowed to buy Fox after already buying Marvel and Star Wars. It'll get by easy.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

So we're basically going back to the cable TV model with streaming services, huh?

I kind of find it interesting that cable was a total ripoff, yet nearly everyone somehow still managed to pay $50-100 for it each month. Meanwhile now you are lucky to get someone to spend $10 a month on a streaming provider, let alone 2 or 3 or more. Like, someone could subscribe to basically every single service and probably still pay less than a premium cable bill was each month, something people routinely paid for for decades, yet literally nobody does this. They trained consumers to be cheap and only spend $10 a month on media, and it worked a little too well. Frankly I don't think we are anywhere close to the bottom of this consolidation.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Warnermount? Parabros?

This means Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network would be under the same banner, which would have blown kid me's mind.

In the future there will only be two rival megacorporations, like Overdrawn At The Memory Bank (FINGAL!)

 

[AJUMP23]

First one to mega corp wins.

 

[dem]

I kind of find it interesting that cable was a total ripoff, yet nearly everyone somehow still managed to pay $50-100 for it each month. Meanwhile now you are lucky to get someone to spend $10 a month on a streaming provider, let alone 2 or 3 or more. Like, someone could subscribe to basically every single service and probably still pay less than a premium cable bill was each month, something people routinely paid for for decades, yet literally nobody does this. They trained consumers to be cheap and only spend $10 a month on media, and it worked a little too well. Frankly I don't think we are anywhere close to the bottom of this consolidation.

I mean... I subscribe to Prime, Netflix, Disney+, AND CraveTV in Canada.

And Gamepass

And Sirius XM

Oh and I pay for cable.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

I mean... I subscribe to Prime, Netflix, Disney+, AND CraveTV in Canada.

And Gamepass

And Sirius XM

Oh and I pay for cable.

Either you are an extreme outlier or I am way off base. Like even way back as a poor college student the apartments I lived in always managed to pay for cable, yet now I'd imagine every student just password shares everything and pays $0.

 

[FunkMiller]

The corporate homogenisation goes on.

I wonder how far we are from the complete collapse of this sclerotic system?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Media consolidation continues. Soon we'll be down to just 3 corporations owning 90% of the American media. This is one reason why the thoughts of ordinary people are so tightly controlled in the US

 

[Spyxos]

What das Paramount even offer? I don't think i have ever seen anything from there.

 

[DeafTourette]

This seems too big a merge. Hope it gets blocked

WAY too big! Bigger than Disney and Fox

 

[jason10mm]

When does it come out that youtube is a larger content producer and delivery service than all these dinosaur studios combined?

Personally I think earlier anti-monopoly politicians would have just lost their shit when they see how large we have allowed companies to become. We don't have anywhere near the competition and innovation we should have. We have lots of convenience but have lost a lot of regional flavor and cultural value due to this homogenization.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

When does it come out that youtube is a larger content producer and delivery service than all these dinosaur studios combined?

Personally I think earlier anti-monopoly politicians would have just lost their shit when they see how large we have allowed companies to become. We don't have anywhere near the competition and innovation we should have. We have lots of convenience but have lost a lot of regional flavor and cultural value due to this homogenization.

Thats the benefit of techie digital kinds of companies. Out of sight, out of mind. And then it's too late as successful tech companies take over a service or product line fast.

It's seems easy to analyze and protest a giant Walmart wanting to build a store in a small town, or if telcom companies with all their wires everywhere and public price lists to consumers is getting out of hand.

But when it's digital downloads or software, it's like it takes a millennial for action despite some of the companies being gigantic in a decade or two.

 

[Rentahamster]

When does it come out that youtube is a larger content producer and delivery service than all these dinosaur studios combined?

Personally I think earlier anti-monopoly politicians would have just lost their shit when they see how large we have allowed companies to become. We don't have anywhere near the competition and innovation we should have. We have lots of convenience but have lost a lot of regional flavor and cultural value due to this homogenization.

Would-be monopolies learned they can pay the anti-monopoly politicians to be more sympathetic to, err, "economic freedom" ideas and less sympathetic to the idea of an actual free market.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Would-be monopolies learned they can pay the anti-monopoly politicians to be more sympathetic to, err, "economic freedom" ideas and less sympathetic to the idea of an actual free market.

And don't forget they can self-sabatage with poor decisions to slip into the "it's needed to save the companies and jobs" PR loophole even though mergers almost always are met with layoffs and closures when it's done to "save our the fail."

 

[TGO]

That would be one BIG ASS merger
Disney Fox - Paramount Warner
What's next, it's only the biggest and 3rd biggest left
Sony Universal?
That would never happen as I don't think either one will let the other take over.
But a partnership which they already had might be a possibility

 

[BobLeeSwagger]

That would be one BIG ASS merger
Disney Fox - Paramount Warner
What's next, it's only the biggest and 3rd biggest left
Sony Universal?
That would never happen as I don't think either one will let the other take over.
But a partnership which they already had might be a possibility

I think Sony is fine. They were one of the few companies smart enough to still license out their content rather than chase the streaming trend.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Media consolidation continues. Soon we'll be down to just 3 corporations owning 90% of the American media. This is one reason why the thoughts of ordinary people are so tightly controlled in the US

It's already so consolidated, which is why you see the same political narratives pushed in so many places, stuff that's good for them but not so good for the little guy (as much as they'd like you think think otherwise)

Throw in how in bed they are with the government, eventually there'll be one massive organization that controls everything.

Or at least two rival organizations, again, like Overdrawn At The Memory Bank ( I didn't want to bungle or bobble the Fingal dopple!) (mom... my nuts)

That would be one BIG ASS merger
Disney Fox - Paramount Warner
What's next, it's only the biggest and 3rd biggest left
Sony Universal?
That would never happen as I don't think either one will let the other take over.
But a partnership which they already had might be a possibility

How many major ones would even be left?

There'd be Disney/Fox, Comcast/Universal, Sony and Warner/Paramount, maybe Amazon?

 

[Dice]

Hopefully instead they have a duel and Zaslav gets shot in the throat.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

The consolidation age continues.

I'm not liking it one bit. Z0rg is coming. God damn it all...

 

[AJUMP23]

So we're basically going back to the cable TV model with streaming services, huh?

We are already there.

 

[Methos#1975]

What das Paramount even offer? I don't think i have ever seen anything from there.

Star Trek, Transformers, TMNT, MI, Top Gun, etc

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

The consolidation age continues.

it has to

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Neither is worth the price.

 

[poppabk]

I think Sony is fine. They were one of the few companies smart enough to still license out their content rather than chase the streaming trend.

They have had Crackle from the very beginning of streaming.

 

[ahtlas7]

One corp to rule them all…

 

[bitbydeath]

So Paramount would absorb WB and kill off Max, Discovery etc?

 

[Methos#1975]

So Paramount would absorb WB and kill off Max, Discovery etc?

More likely the other way around, WB is bigger.

 

[bitbydeath]

More likely the other way around, WB is bigger.

Bigger debt at least.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Bigger debt at least.

Big Debt Energy.

But WB is bigger so Zaslav will probably be a CEO in the end.

 

[bitbydeath]

Big Debt Energy.

But WB is bigger so Zaslav will probably be a CEO in the end.

Should be blocked in that case, after the disaster that was the WB merger.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Should be blocked in that case, after the disaster that was the WB merger.

Well, disaster is a not a judicial term.

I do find it fascinating how much debt all those media companies have.

 

[BobLeeSwagger]

They have had Crackle from the very beginning of streaming.

I believe they sold their majority stake before COVID.

 

[SF Kosmo]

No! Bad Zaslaw! Drop it! Drooooop iiiiit!

 

[March Climber]

I do find it fascinating how much debt all those media companies have.

They decided to ride the wave of cable TV for too long and have severely undercharged for their streaming services. Also, one of their bigger upcoming battles is to convince Gen Z and Gen Alpha to care more about weekly TV shows over tiktok, twitch, and youtube.

 

[Rentahamster]

And don't forget they can self-sabatage with poor decisions to slip into the "it's needed to save the companies and jobs" PR loophole even though mergers almost always are met with layoffs and closures when it's done to "save our the fail."

Oh so convenient how the ownership/management sector disproportionately gains the benefits of the workers' labor while the workers disproportionately bear the burden of any poor decisions made by the execs.



20 years old.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Oh so convenient how the ownership/management sector disproportionately gain the benefits of the workers' labor while the worker's disproportionately bear the burden of any poor decisions made by the execs.



20 years old.

2008 government "bail-outs" comes to mind.

 

[jason10mm]

Oh so convenient how the ownership/management sector disproportionately gain the benefits of the workers' labor while the worker's disproportionately bear the burden of any poor decisions made by the execs.

Incentive not to be a worker, I guess.

How else would you have it be? Can't think of any real examples of "worker led" operations that have any success without being protected from above by daddy government for any problems.

The issue (for me) isn't about eliminating the executive class, its about keeping the corporate size restricted such that you CAN let a corp fail for poor decisions and not worry it will cripple your economy and the workers will just move to the next job over. Right now if Meta, Alphabet, Apple, or Microsoft suddenly imploded in an Enron like fashion it would be almost unsurvivable for our economy, and this situation exists across energy, shipping, food production, housing, banking, and many other sectors.

 

[Rentahamster]

2008 government "bail-outs" comes to mind.

In an alternate timeline I would have liked to see those funds be distributed evenly to the public instead. Maybe it still would have been a giant cluster fuck. Maybe worse, maybe better, who knows. But at least on principle the victims of bad decisions would be on the receiving end of money instead of the people who made those bad decisions.

 

[Rentahamster]

Incentive not to be a worker, I guess.

Yup. It's not bad if you have a good managers and good leaders in charge, but that's not always going to be the case if the system itself incentivizes those leaders to outsource and downsize. Then, "being a good leader" becomes equivalent to how far you can stretch your workforce.

How else would you have it be?

Fostering a system where this:

When the means to survival is through forming monopolies rather than creating better goods and services.

isn't the best option from a cost/benefit analysis.

Can't think of any real examples of "worker led" operations that have any success without being protected from above by daddy government for any problems.

My point wasn't about that. It was about not having politicians craft the laws in favor of the people who donate the most to their campaigns.

The issue (for me) isn't about eliminating the executive class

I don't want to eliminate the executive class. I want them to operate in a world where what's good for them is also good for the rest of us.

its about keeping the corporate size restricted such that you CAN let a corp fail for poor decisions and not worry it will cripple your economy

That would be part of it.

 

[March Climber]

This thread took a larger, but semi-expected turn. My question to you, Rentahamster , is...now what?

I've seen that video above before. I know about all of the things you and DeepEnigma are discussing since years ago about big corps. A lot of people here do too.

The issue I have now is the issue I've had back then: Some people who say these things will point out all of the problems, and then give out zero solutions. I agree with J jason10mm 's questioning on this.