WBD Acquisition Thread

[themidnightlore]

Are we even sure that TCM MENA still exists and hasn't been shut down? Because I'm pretty sure it already closed down.

The only TCM channels internationally that I know still exists are TCM Spain and TCM Cinéma.

Cosmote in Greece still has it (TCM MENA? I guess, it was the one that had a really ugly logo for a period), so it still exists.

Also, I was forgetting of TCM LATAM, that also is quite different from your usual TCM?

 

[JulianRO]

Cosmote in Greece still has it (TCM MENA? I guess, it was the one that had a really ugly logo for a period), so it still exists.

It still does, it's also at Cytavision, a Cypriot provider:

https://epg.cyta.com.cy/tv-guide/en

Also, I was forgetting of TCM LATAM, that also is quite different from your usual TCM?

Looks like it has the same format as the American one, pretty much:

Programación TCM, Hoy | Programación de TV en Colombia | mi.tv

Consulta todos los programas, series, películas etc. que echan hoy y en los próximos días en TCM.

mi.tv

Anyway, let's get ontopic with the acquisition.

 

[Moe]

After they struggled to buy it, it won't happen, especially at how successful it is.

Yeah, acquisition progression was rough and when pandemic hits, Disney got bad luck.

Now, they are recovered quickly and make more money.

I would never trust what Trump says. The Ellisons and Trump have a pretty interesting connection with each other, so no.

Me either. He is famous for flip flop.

Yeah, people might not agree on everything regarding it, but Disney is actually putting their money consistently in whatever's successful and 20th Century has done well for them in many aspects.

A lot of rejuvenation to the franchises that could've been underinvested under the Murdochs, who were already to cash out of Hollywood and saw Disney already being a fit caretaker.

Considering the Fox IPs are expanded into books, comics, games, merchandising more vibrantly by Disney, it wouldn't be far-fetched to see them utilized in the resorts like an Alien land in Shanghai's potential 2nd park due to Alien: Romulus's performance in China, for example.

Yeah, I can see.

Ellison: I firmly believe uniting Paramount and WBD will build a true champion for the creative community - TVBEurope

Paramount chairman and CEO David Ellison has written a letter to the UK's creative community setting out a number of key commitments should the company be able to wrestle WBD away from Netflix

www.tvbeurope.com

Of course, as I said above, Ellison won't stop.

Ellison is truly desperate and he won't take no as answer.

Netflix and WBD are going to procced with acquisition after hostile takeover thwarted and WBD shareholders are going to vote to approve the acquisition, also Netflix is prepared to up the offer if Ellison continue with drama. When acquisition gets approval from regulators, Ellison would go quiet and won't admit the defeat.

I'm wouldn't be surprised if Ellison is going to use court to derail the acquisition, so it is just waste the time.

I for one think that Netflix buying just the studios and the streaming part is what matters the most. Television nowadays isn't that attractive as it used to be long ago. However, WBD's streaming platforms, and specifically HBO Max went very downhill under Zaslav's leadership.

The biggest hope is for Netflix to start slowly repairing what was destroyed back then a.k.a bringing back the shows and movies that were removed from the platform.

Speaking of channels, Paramount acknowledged themselves not too long ago that the linear TV networks WBD has have zero value. Then why promote yourself that "they buy WBD entirely"?

As far as I remember, when the acquisition was first announced by Netflix two months ago, one article said they will be getting TCM, probably the only channel from WBD's side. Can't remember who did post it.

I'm all for Netflix too.

Netflix will get HBO linear and Cinemax linear, along with TCM in US and Canada.

I don't know why about Netflix wouldn't inherit TCM from outside of US and Canada, so I guess that has with plan when WBD split the linear business.

Oh yeah, linear networks don't have much value nowadays and it seems like they are going back to 1980s when acquired programming was very common.

 

[JulianRO]

I'm wouldn't be surprised if Ellison is going to use court to derail the acquisition, so it is just waste the time.

Didn't he already do that?

Paramount sues Warner Bros for Netflix deal details, plans proxy fight

Paramount Skydance on Monday sued Warner Bros Discovery for more information on a rival $82.7 billion deal with Netflix , escalating a battle to take control of one of the ‌most storied Hollywood studios.

www.reuters.com

Either way, Ellison already lost, he struggles in vain. If he really wants to buy something, then buy something non-WBD, like Comcast, maybe? Its behavior shows how immature its thinking is when it comes to this acquisition, like, if Zaslav and 93% of shareholders were very satisfied with the Netflix deal, then just stop.

The solution is quite simple: either pay $33-$34 per share, as how Zaslav asked, not $30 at how it is currently in its latest counterbid, or go home.

 

[Moe]

Didn't he already do that?

He did at once but got dismissed.

It was over WBD board.

Yeah, it is meritless lawsuit.

Either way, Ellison already lost, he struggles in vain. If he really wants to buy something, then buy something non-WBD, like Comcast, maybe? Its behavior shows how immature its thinking is when it comes to this acquisition, like, if Zaslav and 93% of shareholders were very satisfied with the Netflix deal, then just stop.

and he is embarrassment to entire of Paramount.

 

[JulianRO]

Netflix says users can cancel service if HBO Max merger makes it too expensive

Eighty percent of HBO Max subscribers subscribe to Netflix, Sarandos tells Senate.

arstechnica.com

I agree 100% with this.

 

[GRPHX]

It's 50-50 that he could still flip-flop on this due to the precedent of running his stances back and forth in other topics.

He refers to Skydance & Netflix as opponents of an UFC match in the same article as well, lol:

"“They’re beating the hell out of each other — and there’ll be a winner.”"

Trump says he'll stay out of the Netflix-Paramount fight over Warner Bros.

The president's comments to NBC News were a reversal from his December statement that he would be involved in the approval process for Netflix’s deal.

www.nbcnews.com

Having networks and home videos remaining king forever requires taking a time machine, traveling back to the 1990s, but then also the prevention of technology evolving.

As the world changes around the innovation of technology, streaming was inevitable with Netflix's disruption of Hollywood.


Yup, Disney knew it needed to have adult content to gain all kinds of audiences in streaming because that's what it lacked compared to Netflix, WarnerDiscovery, Paramount Global, Comcast, etc.

The Fox deal (including Hulu) was a strategic once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get caught up on the same footing with others.

Some, including a particular person, talked about how the closest thing Disney had to adult content was Touchstone but it had run its course by 2010 and essentially acted as live-action DreamWorks's distribution label until its end in 2016.

As they solely focused on finishing out the DreamWorks contract with DreamWorks then jumping to Universal, Touchstone wasn't ever going to consistently fill in Disney's adult content gaps that 20th Century, Searchlight, FX, National Geographic, Hulu actually had a reliable track record for.

People keep trying to push on Touchstone is just like expecting MGM to actually resurrect Cannon Films in the modern day, for example, and that's just an irrational argument being made here.

And this is a good opportunity to remind you that Disney had Rodriguez's and Tarantino's films once upon a time.

Also they had ABC TV series such as Lost, Desperate Housewives, Alias etc.

 

[lowell]

And this is a good opportunity to remind you that Disney had Rodriguez's and Tarantino's films once upon a time.

Also they had ABC TV series such as Lost, Desperate Housewives, Alias etc.

Yeah, when Touchstone simply became a distribution label for DreamWorks's live-action movies, they also relieved themselves of Miramax (where the Rodriguez and Tarantino films were under) as well.

ABC kept going on producing dramas because they actually needed scripted shows to fill their slate and that kept going with Revenge, Scandal, even Agents Of SHIELD, etc.

Pretty much all major broadcast networks kept the tradition going at that time before streaming became entirely mainstream.

But Disney never had anything close to a HBO-like adult premium brand on cable at least until FX, though.

 

[JulianRO]

Lisa Kudrow Pleads With Warner Bros. Buyer to Keep the Studio 'Preserved as Is'

“I think most people really hope whatever happens next is that this studio lot is preserved as is. It works," the "Friends" star said.

www.thewrap.com

I think Netflix will use the maximum potential possible of WBD's studios after they will finish the acquisition.

 

[Moe]

And this is a good opportunity to remind you that Disney had Rodriguez's and Tarantino's films once upon a time.

Also they had ABC TV series such as Lost, Desperate Housewives, Alias etc.

Disney need to add Jetix contents to Disney+ for whole international.

Hopefully new CEO change their tune.

I wish that WBD cares about animated shows on HBO Max instead of Tubi only.

 

[zakawer2]

I wish that WBD cares about animated shows on HBO Max instead of Tubi only.

They actually do care about their animated shows being on international non-U.S. versions of HBO Max (Greece and Cyprus notwithstanding) a lot more than you might think. And besides, they only license their titles to the U.S. version of Tubi.

 

[Moe]

They actually do care about their animated shows being on international non-U.S. versions of HBO Max (Greece and Cyprus notwithstanding) a lot more than you might think. And besides, they only license their titles to the U.S. version of Tubi.

I'm talking about US version of HBO Max.

Tubi don't have ads free option, unlike HBO Max and I paid ads free option so I should able to enjoy watch Looney Tunes without ads.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

Lisa Kudrow Pleads With Warner Bros. Buyer to Keep the Studio 'Preserved as Is'

“I think most people really hope whatever happens next is that this studio lot is preserved as is. It works," the "Friends" star said.

www.thewrap.com

I think Netflix will use the maximum potential possible of WBD's studios after they will finish the acquisition.

Why wouldn’t they? Netflix did say they want to create jobs.

 

[Insidus]

It's sad that Paramount thinks they'll have the upper hand if this deal collapses but WBD can still go with it's planned split and try selling separately. Kind of surprised that Discovery Global has gotten interest from potential buyers others are after certain cable networks.

 

[JulianRO]

Why wouldn’t they? Netflix did say they want to create jobs.

Paramount already did a lot of cuts despite their promises, so hopefully it's not again some sort of marketing Netflix does.

 

[GRPHX]

Disney need to add Jetix contents to Disney+ for whole international.

Hopefully new CEO change their tune.

I wish that WBD cares about animated shows on HBO Max instead of Tubi only.

We've discussed this a lot, man. I wanted to rewatch the legacy of the old BVS, and I struggled hard for it. But unfortunately, it did not make any contribution.

When it comes to streaming platforms, legacy network tv animations have no value in their eyes. They don't even consider it a catalog piece. And HBOMax has done much worse in this regard. I hope Netflix will be more respectful of the legacy network animations' legacy.

Yeah, when Touchstone simply became a distribution label for DreamWorks's live-action movies, they also relieved themselves of Miramax (where the Rodriguez and Tarantino films were under) as well.

ABC kept going on producing dramas because they actually needed scripted shows to fill their slate and that kept going with Revenge, Scandal, even Agents Of SHIELD, etc.

Pretty much all major broadcast networks kept the tradition going at that time before streaming became entirely mainstream.

But Disney never had anything close to a HBO-like adult premium brand on cable at least until FX, though.

Disney could have built Miramax as an adult prestige TV brand. If they hadn't sold it. They had this possibility in their hands.

They actually do care about their animated shows being on international non-U.S. versions of HBO Max (Greece and Cyprus notwithstanding) a lot more than you might think. And besides, they only license their titles to the U.S. version of Tubi.

Take a look at HBO Max Turkiye's animation catalogue. It's absolutely terrible.

 

[the greenman]

I am still conflicted on this matter.

On the one hand, I simply don't want another studio (PARAMOUNT), purchasing or "merging" with another studio. Simply means less content from WB over time.

On the other hand, I do not trust NETFLIX to properly sheperd the classic studio for all of its worth. That includes the films theatrical runs, the proper care of the physical media arm (though they could be a savior from WB issues), and I'm really hoping someone will curate the different facets of the studio correctly.

I had been watching some podcasts of guys who work for WB Archive and talk about their work on updating classics.

Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk

 

[zakawer2]

Take a look at HBO Max Turkiye's animation catalogue. It's absolutely terrible.

It doesn't have Steven Universe and the other shows are more pervasively edited for content than in most other EMEA markets, but it's honestly better than the Greece/Cyprus market and a lot more extensive overall.

HBO Max in Turkey even has multiple Ben 10 titles that aren't available in, say, Denmark.

 

[JulianRO]

David Zaslav dodged an awkward antitrust hearing on Capitol Hill — but he may get called again

Wall Street executives said the grilling foreshadows a tough review from Trump’s DOJ antitrust division and a possible lawsuit to block the deal.

nypost.com

Very interesting details.

 

[AetherOps]

From 1-10, What are the odds the Netflix deal doesn't go though?