Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount in merger talks (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

The Burning Questions Swirling Around the Early Warner Bros. Discovery-Paramount Global Merger Talks

The potential of a Warner Bros. Discovery merger with Paramount Global raises a number of burning questions about how a deal would work.

variety.com

 

[Sam Favate]

To me, the question of whether Zaslav is allowed to be in charge of yet another studio is a “burning question.”

 

[cineMANIAC]

I had no idea Paramount's parent company/largest shareholder (whatever the case may be) is National Amusements. They're great at running dumpy outdated theaters in bad neighborhoods

Not sure how to feel about this tbh. As long as it doesn't affect the physical media juggernaut the studio has been engaged in for 3 years now, I guess I really don't give a rat's patootie who owns them.

 

[Chip_HT]

So, the Disney/Fox deal wasn't technically a merger...Fox just sold off the bulk of its assets to Disney. But there's still a separate Fox entity.

Sounds like the possibilities here run the gamut from a deal like that to a straight up merger.

 

[Ethan Riley]

The bigger the company, the less chance there is for someone to really care about its assets. That's why Disney doesn't know wtf to do with Star Wars and Marvel right now.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The bigger the company, the less chance there is for someone to really care about its assets. That's why Disney doesn't know wtf to do with Star Wars and Marvel right now.

I think Disney placed too much emphasis on Star Wars and Marvel and have basically ignored many Fox classics.

 

[Garysb]

Per the Variety article:
The biggest hurdle for dealmakers may be putting a value on Paramount’s linear cable networks such as MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, TV Land and more. Those channels were once the backbone of Viacom, but their value is shrinking every year as traditional cable subscribers exit for their own self-made menus of streamers. Warner Bros. Discovery already has its own legacy linear cable networks to bolster (TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Discovery, TLC, et al.) so a merger of the two could see mini-mergers of channels and probably the sunset of some once-stalwart cable brands.

THEY BETTER NOT TOUCH TCM.

 

[Lord Dalek]

So, the Disney/Fox deal wasn't technically a merger...Fox just sold off the bulk of its assets to Disney. But there's still a separate Fox entity.

Sounds like the possibilities here run the gamut from a deal like that to a straight up merger.

If you want to be pedantic about it, Disney got the 20th Century part and Fox is still Fox.

 

[PMF]

Besides the fact that I think he’s an inept administrator, Zaslav is poison to the creative community […]

Sounds equal or worse to the period in which Gary Barber was blockading archivist accesses to the vaults at MGM (along with The Board thereafter) allowing vinegar syndrome and more to destroy our American film heritage.

 

[PMF]

I think Disney placed too much emphasis on Star Wars and Marvel and have basically ignored many Fox classics.

One can only speculate where classic Fox films might be now, had there been someone like the late Nick Redman still with us today to guide and influence..

 

[mskaye]

One can only speculate where classic Fox films might be now, had there been someone like the late Nick Redman still with us today to guide and influence..

 

[filmfreak]

The bigger the company, the less chance there is for someone to really care about its assets. That's why Disney doesn't know wtf to do with Star Wars and Marvel right now.

Disney has a treasure trove of 20th Century Fox film noir titles that may never see the light of day again. It sucks!

 

[filmfreak]

I think Disney placed too much emphasis on Star Wars and Marvel and have basically ignored many Fox classics.

Yep, all the FOX films that were under the Twilight Time label are now OOP and selling for $100 on ebay.

 

[PMF]

Disney has a treasure trove of 20th Century Fox film noir titles that may never see the light of day again. It sucks!

It would be an impossibility - which goes against all logic and financial returns - to learn that such an expensive acquisition was for the sole purpose of locking away a crucial part of American film history forever.

Not a chance. Never.

And you can bank on this projection.

 

[mskaye]

Yep, all the FOX films that were under the Twilight Time label are now OOP and selling for $100 on ebay.

that's not going to change...

 

[John*Wells]

Per the Variety article:
The biggest hurdle for dealmakers may be putting a value on Paramount’s linear cable networks such as MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, TV Land and more. Those channels were once the backbone of Viacom, but their value is shrinking every year as traditional cable subscribers exit for their own self-made menus of streamers. Warner Bros. Discovery already has its own legacy linear cable networks to bolster (TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Discovery, TLC, et al.) so a merger of the two could see mini-mergers of channels and probably the sunset of some once-stalwart cable brands.

THEY BETTER NOT TOUCH TCM.

As Captain Kirk said in Star Trek VI, that’s the biggest reason why this is a TERRIFYING IDEA. Paramount owns its share of Classic films. Not the least of which is Its a wonderful Life. Warner Leadership does not have my confidence in this regard

 

[Interdimensional]

As Captain Kirk said in Star Trek VI, that’s the biggest reason why this is a TERRIFYING IDEA. Paramount owns its share of Classic films. Not the least of which is Its a wonderful Life. Warner Leadership does not have my confidence in this regard

My concern is for unreleased deep catalog titles.

WB already has such a vast catalog of films that at the current rate they'll simply never get through remastering them all. It'll take decades. Add the Paramount library of titles to that, and some are just never going to make it.

 

[mskaye]

My concern is for unreleased deep catalog titles.

WB already has such a vast catalog of films that at the current rate they'll simply never get through remastering them all. It'll take decades. Add the Paramount library of titles to that, and some are just never going to make it.

My concern is for all the people and families that may lose their jobs/primary sources of income/have their careers derailed (and the downstream effect in the industry) when these mega consolidations occur. Deep catalog titles, yes a shame but there are more pressing concerns out there.

 

[Interdimensional]

My concern is for all the people and families that may lose their jobs/primary sources of icome/have their careers derailed (and the downstream effect in the industry) when these mega consolidations occur. Deep catalog titles, yes a shame but there are more pressing concerns out there.

Well there's multiple reasons to see such a proposed merger/acquisition as not such a great thing. Expressing concern for one aspect of this need not imply disregard for others.

 

[DVBRD]

Bill Mechanic Argues Against Paramount Global Becoming The Second Fabled Hollywood Studio Stripped Down & Sold For Parts: Guest Column

Editor’s note: Underplayed in the media intrigue over the prospect of Warner Bros swallowing Shari Redstone’s empire that includes Paramount and CBS is the gloomy reality that another storied…

deadline.com