Paramount Skydance wants WBD

[TheBigA]

there are NO cards shown on CBS? Makes zero sense

Because the regular Sunday night schedule is usually #1. UFC is not the NFL.

Hockey is on ABC, baseball on NBC, so you don't want more sports on CBS.

 

[umfan]

You wouldn't do that *unless* you were concerned that the wagon to which you have tethered your horse may be about to tip over.

Or that your covering all your bases.

 

[Jman8606]

The FanDuel free channel shows jai-alai from Florida, with live betting available. That sport is dead and buried. Nobody shows up to watch it, and its players have the reputation of being notoriously corrupt. But there are still gamblers around willing to wager on it, especially in Connecticut and Rhode Island, where it once was big but wound up being shut down. Enter FanDuel, which also offers betting on darts from Europe and horse racing from various American tracks.

Orlando’s Jai-Alai arena has been gone for over fifteen years.

 

[Jman8606]

They want to own content. WBD owns tons of content including the old MGM material that Ted Turner bought before Turner merged with Warner.

https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/08/business/turner-acquiring-mgm-movie-empire.html

So yes, they want to complete the archive. One can argue the old stuff is the most valuable, and WBD owns it.

Putting the TV stuff behind their own paywall (as opposed to a cable paywall) also has its advantages.

Would make sense. And MGM’s library would be whole again.

 

[Jman8606]

A lot of folks in the US get their Netflix via Roku. I am one of them.

So am I. I have a Roku TV I inherited from my aunt/roomate when she passed away two years ago. I had an Amazon Fire TV in my bedroom but it gave out several months ago so I had to pitch it.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Would make sense. And MGM’s library would be whole again.

They might want to monetize the oldest movies while they can. A lot of classic films are going to fall into the public domain over the coming years as copyrights expire.

 

[Jman8606]

They might want to monetize the oldest movies while they can. A lot of classic films are going to fall into the public domain over the coming years as copyrights expire.

Very much so.

 

[TheBigA]

They might want to monetize the oldest movies while they can. A lot of classic films are going to fall into the public domain over the coming years as copyrights expire.

My understanding is that the colorized versions are considered new copyrights, started at the year of colorization.

 

[Jman8606]

Media mergers are always very strange. The Disney/Fox one is still hard to wrap my head around, same with Marvel and Star Wars, since a lot of the Fox assets do not really line up with ABC or the other assets (even things like Touchstone or the R rated films they produced feel far away from 20th). Feels kinda like a "split" personality.

You are right! Boy are you right! I feel the same way. I think Time Warner should have bought MGM in the early to mid 2000s. Given the fact the former already owned the majority of the latter’s library.

 

[Jman8606]

CNN is already neutered. Nobody watches.

All the news networks have been neutered for years.

 

[Jman8606]

Ellison is a spoiled brat.

Both Ellisons are just like their buddy Chump.

 

[Jman8606]

They did not "lose". They chose to not up their bid because that, in their opinion, overvalued WBD. No different than when two or more families put in offers for a house.

Netflix is big and profitable. They do not have to buy as big a company as WBD. In fact, if they acquire smaller more industry specific companies, they don't have to buy things they eventually would have to sell at a loss.

There are significant differences in the corporate philosophies (NOT talking about partisan politics here), so what was not of as much value to Netflix may be of greater value to the apparent buyer.

And radio consolidated because over half of all station in 1995 were not profitable. This is why Disney is putting lots more money into theme parks and cruise lines and hotels rather than the movie business.

That is oversimplification. Those three own just over 10% of all U.S. radio station. Sure, most are "bigger" stations but the industry is still shrinking dramatically. For example, SBS has a huge near-billion dollar debt now due and has no cash to pay it. There has to be further consolidation for radio to compete with the vastly larger streaming industry.

The issue here is that OTA radio and TV are in decline. So, for the future of entertainment, radio is irrelevant... as is the current network TV model.

Remember, in the 50's into the 90's, the three big TV networks were totally dominant. The technology changed and on-demand beats "you listen or watch when we tell you to".

Same happened with auto makers. Go back to the 20's and 30's and look how many US companies there are now by comparison. Or the near-total disappearance of the American consumer electronics business in the last three decades.

Oh yes, I prefer on-demand. I cannot sit still and watch regular TV anymore. I am a child of the 90s and 2000s and sometimes I need time to walk around etc. So I can start snd stop and I will between back to where I left off,

 

[Jman8606]

Actually, what we need is for those in power to enforce current antitrust laws. Those laws would have stopped this purchase (as well as possibly Paramount's purchase of CBS) if they had been strictly enforced.

I happen to like Viacom and CBS back together!

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Senators Urge FCC to Prevent Paramount-WB Merger From Closing During Pending Foreign Ownership Review

Foreign investors would control 49.5% of the combined company's equity

www.thewrap.com

The Senate demands that the FCC investigate the Paramount-WB deal over "Foreign Ownership" issues.

California AG Cites Antitrust Concerns Over Paramount-WBD Merger

The $111 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery has a way to go before it’s a done deal, California Attorney General Rob Bonta says.

deadline.com

This is while the California Attorney General and the states that agree with AG Rob Bonta are investigating the Paramount-WB merger over antitrust concerns.

Paramount-WBD Merger Will Mean Job Cuts, Lawsuits: L.A. County Report

 

[ted chittenden]

Senators Urge FCC to Prevent Paramount-WB Merger From Closing During Pending Foreign Ownership Review

Foreign investors would control 49.5% of the combined company's equity

www.thewrap.com

The Senate demands that the FCC investigate the Paramount-WB deal over "Foreign Ownership" issues.

California AG Cites Antitrust Concerns Over Paramount-WBD Merger

The $111 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery has a way to go before it’s a done deal, California Attorney General Rob Bonta says.

deadline.com

This is while the California Attorney General and the states that agree with AG Rob Bonta are investigating the Paramount-WB merger over antitrust concerns.

Paramount-WBD Merger Will Mean Job Cuts, Lawsuits: L.A. County Report

FCC Chairman Carr will ignore the Senate's concerns as he doesn't consider them to be his boss.

If the lawsuit by Democratically-controlled states goes ahead, this could get ugly.

 

[Don CT]

FCC Chairman Carr will ignore the Senate's concerns as he doesn't consider them to be his boss.

If the lawsuit by Democratically-controlled states goes ahead, this could get ugly.

The EU will be the bigger threat.

 

[Larry]

FCC Chairman Carr will ignore the Senate's concerns as he doesn't consider them to be his boss.

If the lawsuit by Democratically-controlled states goes ahead, this could get ugly.

If a rumored settlement is Paramount divests CNN when acquiring WB Discovery, Paramount will probably be amenable to that to complete the merger.

 

[ted chittenden]

If a rumored settlement is Paramount divests CNN when acquiring WB Discovery, Paramount will probably be amenable to that to complete the merger.

But the current POTUS won't!

 

[TheBigA]

If a rumored settlement is Paramount divests CNN when acquiring WB Discovery, Paramount will probably be amenable to that to complete the merger.

Ellison isn't in the linear TV business. He wants the Warner content and HBO. He wants to combine that with Paramount.

All of the broadcasting and cable business is a distraction.

 

[Don CT]

Ellison isn't in the linear TV business. He wants the Warner content and HBO. He wants to combine that with Paramount.

All of the broadcasting and cable business is a distraction.

What brand survives. HBO Max or Paramount Plus.