WBD Acquisition Thread

[Elijah Abrams]

Now the Teamsters are opposing the merger.

Teamsters Call on DOJ to Stop Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger: “We’ve Seen What Happens When Corporations Consolidate Power”

General president Sean O’Brien and motion picture head Lindsay Dougherty say they will only back the $111 billion deal if worker protections are put in place.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[JulianRO]

Oh boy, I really want this merger to be stopped. Only one week until the shareholders's vote.

 

[AetherOps]

I honestly have zero faith that anything will stop this merger.

 

[Nexonius]

Hmm, really makes you think about the merger being pushed by the White House.

Pete Hegseth Goes Off On CNN At Pentagon Presser

Pete Hegseth said of CNN that "the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better."

deadline.com

 

[lowell]

Hmm, really makes you think about the merger being pushed by the White House.

Pete Hegseth Goes Off On CNN At Pentagon Presser

Pete Hegseth said of CNN that "the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better."

deadline.com

Considering this is just already one step away from how you get state-endorsed or state-sponsored media (involvement of money from Middle East wealth funds & China's Tencent), not that surprised the admin themselves tries to attack the press any chance they get and one of the main reasons why this deal already looks bad in the first place.

But if their actions in a regional military conflict later on unintentionally blows up Skydance's financial backing for its WarnerDiscovery pursuit with both foreign money pulling out and the AI bubble popping, taking Oracle on a painful rollercoaster and hurting Larry's stock holdings used as loan collateral, they need to live with their blatantly crazy choices.

 

[awinger24]

Hmm, really makes you think about the merger being pushed by the White House.

Pete Hegseth Goes Off On CNN At Pentagon Presser

Pete Hegseth said of CNN that "the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better."

deadline.com

We are pretty much doomed. Ellison won and WB will officially die before 2027. RIP CNN, RIP DC, RIP Looney Tunes. This is a mass panic.

 

[zakawer2]

We are pretty much doomed. Ellison won and WB will officially die before 2027. RIP CNN, RIP DC, RIP Looney Tunes. This is a mass panic.

You're being too pessimistic. It's not over yet!

 

[awinger24]

You're being too pessimistic. It's not over yet!

Shareholders will vote 100% unanimously for the deal to get approved. It will clear the DOJ and FTC and we can’t stop it. It’s over for Hollywood and the industry. Long live Ellison.

UPDATE: Redacted a previous claim in reflection of forum rules.

 

[zakawer2]

Shareholders will vote 100% unanimously for the deal to get approved. It will clear the DOJ and FTC and the 2028 elections will get cancelled. It’s over for Hollywood and the industry. Long live Ellison.

I'm confident that there will be many shareholders who vote against it.

Also, forgive me if this falls foul of this website's no-politics rule (and to be fair, many posters in this thread seem to be potentially falling foul of it anyway), but I'm pretty confident that the 2028 presidential elections in the United States will still happen as expected.

 

[awinger24]

I'm confident that there will be many shareholders who vote against it.

Also, forgive me if this falls foul of this website's no-politics rule (and to be fair, many posters in this thread seem to be potentially falling foul of it anyway), but I'm pretty confident that the 2028 presidential elections in the United States will still happen as expected.

Still, it didn’t stop shareholders at Disney and Fox for wanting to merge.

 

[zakawer2]

Still, it didn’t stop shareholders at Disney and Fox for wanting to merge.

Yeah, but at least 21st Century Fox didn't yet have a dedicated streaming service separate from Disney's own, and its linear TV offerings didn't overlap nearly as much with Disney's stuff.

Meanwhile, Paramount and WBD both have their own dedicated streaming services (Paramount has Paramount+ and 50% of SkyShowtime, while WBD has HBO Max and discovery+), and their linear TV offerings overlap a lot more too (e.g. the animated stuff on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons overlaps with everything Cartoon Network and Boomerang have to offer, Comedy Central overlaps significantly with Adult Swim, the preschool stuff on Cartoonito overlaps heavily with pretty much everything on Nick Jr., MTV's reality programming overlaps significantly with the reality stuff found on TLC, etc.).

 

[awinger24]

Yeah, but at least 21st Century Fox didn't yet have a dedicated streaming service separate from Disney's own, and its linear TV offerings didn't overlap nearly as much with Disney's stuff.

Meanwhile, Paramount and WBD both have their own dedicated streaming services (Paramount has Paramount+ and 50% of SkyShowtime, while WBD has HBO Max and discovery+), and their linear TV offerings overlap a lot more too (e.g. the animated stuff on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons overlaps with everything Cartoon Network and Boomerang have to offer, Comedy Central overlaps significantly with Adult Swim, the preschool stuff on Cartoonito overlaps heavily with pretty much everything on Nick Jr., MTV's reality programming overlaps significantly with the reality stuff found on TLC, etc.).

Shareholders are definitely voting for this. We can’t stop this. Blackrock and Vanguard want a mega company.

 

[zakawer2]

Shareholders are definitely voting for this. We can’t stop this. Blackrock and Vanguard want a mega company.

You could become a WBD shareholder and vote against it.

 

[harry580]

but this is 2026, the politics of buyouts is different when those from 2017 and given the politics of now, the shareholders will say no to this

 

[awinger24]

You don’t get it. Blackrock and Vanguard are WBD’s biggest shareholders. They probably want to sell to Paramount Skydance. And the merger won’t get blocked or delayed. They want to rush it in Q3.

 

[lowell]

Not that surprising but admin's doubling down to defend the Defense Secretary's CNN attack & full-throated endorsement of Skydance, lol:

White House Escalates War Of Words With CNN Over Iran Coverage

Like a mad dog with a bone, the Trump administration won’t let it go with CNN today over the channel’s coverage of the ongoing war with Iran

deadline.com

 

[awinger24]

Not that surprising but admin's doubling down to defend the Defense Secretary's CNN attack & full-throated endorsement of Skydance, lol:

White House Escalates War Of Words With CNN Over Iran Coverage

Like a mad dog with a bone, the Trump administration won’t let it go with CNN today over the channel’s coverage of the ongoing war with Iran

deadline.com

They are going to approve the merger and WB will die. I hate this timeline. WB died all because Ellison wants two studios and make sure independent media dies forever.

 

[LooneyTunesFan3]

They are going to approve the merger and WB will die. I hate this timeline. WB died all because Ellison wants two studios and make sure independent media dies forever.

I don't think so. Warner Bros will be keep forever, not gonna die.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

Yeah, but at least 21st Century Fox didn't yet have a dedicated streaming service separate from Disney's own, and its linear TV offerings didn't overlap nearly as much with Disney's stuff.

And (despite that I still want 20th Century Studios to get sold off) Disney needed a mature film unit to fill the void Touchstone left.

 

[PF9]

Since this merger is to preempt the planned split of WBD, CN and Nick should air alternate telecasts of college football games from the Big 12 and Big Ten Conferences aired on TNT and CBS, like with the occasional NFL telecasts on Nick.