WBD Acquisition Thread

[harry580]

oh boy, time to do let someone form a new major studio and call it blue sky (that's what's happened to twitter)

 

[zakawer2]

How the heck is this "merger" between HBO Max and Paramount+ (that the combined Paramount–WBD entity will perform) supposed to work in markets that only have HBO Max (e.g. Belgium, Greece, Estonia, Iceland, Moldova, Luxembourg, Malta), or in markets that have SkyShowtime instead of Paramount+ (e.g. Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Denmark, the Netherlands)?

 

[JulianRO]

How the heck is this "merger" between HBO Max and Paramount+ (that the combined Paramount–WBD entity will perform) supposed to work in markets that only have HBO Max (e.g. Belgium, Greece, Estonia, Iceland, Moldova, Luxembourg, Malta), or in markets that have SkyShowtime instead of Paramount+ (e.g. Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Denmark, the Netherlands)?

For the moment we don't know if this is going to happen internationally, but in the US it will, for sure.

 

[FirePuppy]

I sure hope nothing awful will happen to Sonic the Hedgehog 4, even if the merger gets approved. So will Coyote vs. Acme, Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender, The Cat in the Hat (2026), and The Angry Birds Movie 3.

 

[RandomMe]

But the resulting company will own HBO Max, discovery+ (in some countries), Pluto TV (in some countries), Paramount+ (in some countries), 50% of SkyShowtime (in many countries), Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, Boomerang (in certain countries), a stake in Boing (in Spain and Italy), Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nicktoons, Super! (in Italy), TLC, Discovery Channel, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Eurosport, MTV, Comedy Central (in some countries), much of Food Network (in some countries), Paramount Network (in some countries), Warner TV (in some countries) and more. They would also simultaneously own Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures. They'd have a lot more consolidation in these fields:

• Streaming (HBO Max, Paramount+, 50% of SkyShowtime, Pluto TV, discovery+)
• Kids' TV (Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, Boomerang, part of Boing, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Nick Jr. and Super!)
• IP ownership

Super! in Italy is facing an uncertain future as Paramount will do something, don't know if it's a closure, which seems to be the only viable option.

 

[Moe]

I sure hope nothing awful will happen to Sonic the Hedgehog 4, even if the merger gets approved. So will Coyote vs. Acme, Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender, The Cat in the Hat (2026), and The Angry Birds Movie 3.

Ketchup Entertainment bought Coyote vs. Acme out and it will be unaffected by Paramount-WBD merger.

How the heck is this "merger" between HBO Max and Paramount+ (that the combined Paramount–WBD entity will perform) supposed to work in markets that only have HBO Max (e.g. Belgium, Greece, Estonia, Iceland, Moldova, Luxembourg, Malta), or in markets that have SkyShowtime instead of Paramount+ (e.g. Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Denmark, the Netherlands)?

They focus on changes that is related to US market.

 

[themidnightlore]

[...]
They focus on changes that is related to US market.

The other markets could be an afterthought. And talking of Paramount, they definitely will be.

 

[JulianRO]

Even after combining them I have low hopes that they are going to bring back what was removed from HBO Max.

 

[zakawer2]

Even after combining them I have low hopes that they are going to bring back what was removed from HBO Max.

The odds of such content ever coming back would probably be even lower under a combined Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery than it already is under the current iteration of Warner Bros. Discovery.

 

[JulianRO]

That's what I say, PSKY will do massive cuts to reduce their costs, after all, it's over $110B.

If Netflix wasn't giving up, then the hopes would be have been much higher.

 

[harry580]

I hoping this deal gets rejected, maybe amazon can buy Warner bros discovery instead (amazon has ties to Warner bros from mgm, dc comics & lord of the rings)

 

[JulianRO]

amazon can buy Warner bros discovery instead

If they really wanted they would have tried placing a bid, at least.

Super! in Italy is facing an uncertain future as Paramount will do something, don't know if it's a closure, which seems to be the only viable option.

I honestly think the next channels PSKY is going to close are probably the documentary ones from Discovery, or at the very best, massively merge them into one global feed as they did with MTV.

Or who knows, we'll wait and see.

 

[themidnightlore]

[...]
I honestly think the next channels PSKY is going to close are probably the documentary ones from Discovery, or at the very best, massively merge them into one global feed as they did with MTV.

Or who knows, we'll wait and see.

That sounds like a nightmare for Italy and UK, where WBD is quite strong with the FTA market.

 

[JulianRO]

Probably in those areas the channels will remain, but I'm expecting anything to happen in order to recover from a massive acquisition.

 

[harry580]

I would be wrong on this but I think this deal will be rejected fair and square and maybe split the assets in a 21st century fox way (the discovery cable networks goes to paramount while Warner bros assets will still be owned by zaslavs)

 

[JulianRO]

but I think this deal will be rejected fair and square

No.

Back when Netflix was the winner, then yes, I do agree with the fact that in many places they would become a monopoly in streaming, and also regarding the future of theater releases of movies. In that case there was a slight chance of being rejected.

One advantage, or disadvantage, depending on how you see it, was that the linear networks business remained independent. While their future wasn't that clear with them as well, probably they wouldn't have ended up as how they will end after PSKY buys them.

Paramount is smaller in terms of pretty much anything, thus the chances for the deal to be rejected remain very low.

 

[harry580]

No.

Back when Netflix was the winner, then yes, I do agree with the fact that in many places they would become a monopoly in streaming, and also regarding the future of theater releases of movies. In that case there was a slight chance of being rejected.

One advantage, or disadvantage, depending on how you see it, was that the linear networks business remained independent. While their future wasn't that clear with them as well, probably they wouldn't have ended up as how they will end after PSKY buys them.

Paramount is smaller in terms of pretty much anything, thus the chances for the deal to be rejected remain very low.

so, you want a disney/fox disaster, a lot of movies cancelled, animation studios foldings, networks foldings?

 

[JulianRO]

I didn't say that I want any disaster. I also oppose this acquisition as well.

I just expressed my opinion based on the information that's already known around.

 

[harry580]

I bet the information will get it wrong

 

[JulianRO]

I hope so, we'll see.