Netflix is weighing all-cash offer for WB to thwart Paramount bid
Two major studios merging into one makes no sense to me. Disney and Fox made sense, because Disney was never a real studio. They made kids' cartoons for most of their existence and that was it. Touchstone Pictures? What the hell is that? Miramax? Oh wait, that was tainted by big Harv.
>>217342537From kike to a kike or another kike.
>>217342649Disney made plenty of live-action stuff pre-80s, it's just that they were mostly Troy McClure-tier comedies with stupid premises.Touchstone was a "Movies that aren't squeaky clean family entertainment" brand.
>>217342649Back in the day Disney would put out 4 live action films per year and then one animated film every 4 years, and people only remember the animated ones because they're the best
>>217342537What if Warner Bros pull a reverse viking and buys Netflix?
>>217342537CNBC did a segment on it:https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/14/netflix-warner-bros-discovery-deal-all-cash.htmlThe short version:> If NFLX switches to all cash, that cuts down on several steps in the process, which would move the shareholder approval vote up by a few months, to as early as the end of February> A vote in support of the board and in favor of NFLX would basically shut the door on PSKY going forward> With NFLX trading lower, it also takes away valuation issues on the deal with NFLX falling below the bands set up in the deal.Either way: NFLX is still after only a portion of the company, while PSKY is still fighting to also gain control of a segment they called 'worthless"
>>217342714Oh yeah. I seem to remember something about a dog that ran away, and something else about a bear.
>>217342773It is mostly worthless because it's a declining asset, but Paramount deal for the entire company is less than the they could get selling the studios and streaming to Netflix and Discovery Global to someone else. Also, there a good chance that Paramount and WB would go bankrupt
>>217342773>he end of Februarydag yo! I would've thought that this will drag on for another two years, at least. With legal battles brought by the Ellisons, etc.
>>217342826If Paramount and WB merge, they will both go down in flames. No doubt about that. That's why the WB board keeps declining Paramount's offer, even though it is more valuable in the short-term.
>>217342826I disagree entirely. WBD is a creature of AT&T; with AT&T people in control and running the legal side. That corporation has long had an appetite for mergers, spinoffs, and consolidations. Once Discovery Global is spun off, it because an interesting candidate for some sort of merger deal with Versant, which was just spun off from Comcast.In my mind, if they try something like GE did with their turn-around, there is an easy path to shareholder value. So...> merge Discovery Global with Versant> split it into three public companies> Company 1 - CNBC, CNN, E!> Company 2 - MSNBC, NOVO (Italy) and ?? (polish network they would currently own)> Company 3 - everything else.In this way, Company 2 would be loaded up with all of the bad debt and overhead, and then dumped on anyone willing to take it. Company 3 would be branded as a content provider for various delivery platforms (like a new version of CBS's old Television City); and Company 1 would become a gold-plated news organization.When GE did their turnaround, they took a company well on its way to failure, and (via the split into three companies), turned them into companies which gave a 400%-800% return to those who held out for the long haul.
>>217342849In my opinion, the lawsuit is a bluff. LE and PSKY couldn't withstand the discovery process. The board of WBD was polite in the way they worded the statement declining PSKY's first and second offer; but if PSKY insists on turning the relationship into a conflict, the real facts around those first 2 deals will come out; and PSKY's share price will collapse overnightThe moving it forward is also a checkmate move. If the shareholders vote to go with NFLX or to otherwise support the Board (which the vote absolutely would), that ends the conversation and PSKY is out no matter what they say
>>217342537Paramount is the better deal for consumers.Paramount cares about making Blu-Rays and DVDS, Netflix doesn’t.Netflix will shutdown Warner Archive.
>>217342773The Paramount deal is better because they are offering to buy out the assets that are not going to have any return value on the stock market if they get spun off. Comcast spun off their cable TV assets recently and the new company's stock is in the toilet. The same thing will happen to Warner's cable assets if they get spun off, it will be on the shareholders to gamble them away in the stock market because Netflix doesn't want them.
>>217343750Versant is in the toilet because they're within the first few months of them going public. And if the WBD spinoff was 'worthless', as DE claimed, he wouldn't be fighting so hard to get his hands on it.With AT&T you always want to trust the plan.
>>217343806The cable assets are junk, plain and simple. Nobody wants to invest in cable because linear broadcast TV is on its way out, and everyone knows it. It will likely continue to exist in some form but it will just be the same content you find online but in a linear always-on format, mostly for the sake of emergency use or when internet is not available.The reason Skydance wants the cable assets is because that is a more attractive deal to investors. They get more money per share and they also don't get stuck holding the bag for a spinoff company made of obsolete junk. I'm sure making CNN pivot to center would be a nice scalp, but they really don't have much influence anymore since most people find their news through social media now.
>>217342944You're missing a big part here. Everything else would include TBS, which means Turner Sports.Turner Sports isn't anywhere near as big as it was when it had the NBA, but there still value in the grab bag esque slate of sports they have.I think you idea is good but I'd go>Company 1 - CNN, CNBC, E!, TNT Sports (TNT converted into 100% sports network), Golf Channel, TNT Sports International, >Company 2 - Dumping ground of Versant's and Discovery Global's non sports foreign assets, may not pass EU Regulators>Company 3 - MS Now and everything else between the two networksLoad company 3 up with debt like a trash compactor and leave with company 1.
>>217344687I disagree. It's no longer about having enough content to fill the cable spectrum, it's about streaming companies having enough content to fill their program schedule and justify the monthly charge to the customer.It's basically the reason why PSKY and NFLX want to buy Warner Brothers; to create an in-house content creation machine which can supply them with product. This is the same as how Hollywood started; with the studios being owned by the theaters and with studio companies being created specifically for the purpose of providing content to the theater chain that owned each production company.>>217344902I like that you're putting the thought into it, but I was thinking in terms of making 2 out of the 3 companies profitable. So the dumping ground (my company 2, your three) would get the junk; while the other two are left with brands that could work on their own.CNN is a troubled network, but that's management problem. CNBC is the high-value item in my company 1; and E! was added because it's entertainment news; and company 1 was designed to be an agnostic news provider who whichever consumers/providers want to run with it.I agree that the sports channel + golf have value; they would be the high-value items of company 3. Sports and news (while they occasionally intersect), are different enough that they would create a different mental brand and require a different sort of management attitude.
>>217346129Side note: Here's a link about how GE turned their failing companies into 3 companies; two with very excellent returns from shareholder who went through it:https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2025/07/27/ges-400-breakup-return-is-a-wake-up-call-for-every-ceo/
