Hollywood’s obsession with splashy team-ups may soon find its expression in one of the biggest deals of the year.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the media behemoth that owns DC Comics, “The Sopranos” and Scooby-Doo, has received acquisition interest from multiple companies, including Paramount, the company behind “Star Trek” and “Top Gun.”
Warner Bros. Discovery acknowledged those discussions on Tuesday without naming specific suitors, reminding investors that it is still pursuing a spin-off off its studio business.
If a deal with Paramount reaches fruition, it would create a news and entertainment behemoth to rival streaming juggernauts like Netflix and Disney. Here’s a look at the films, shows and characters that the combined company would own, from Harry Potter to Captain Kirk.
Combining Paramount and Warner Bros. would bring together hit franchises and more than a century of cinematic storytelling. But it could also reduce competition for new projects and result in major cost-cutting as two studios come under the same corporate umbrella.
Both Paramount and Warner Bros. lag the biggest companies in streaming, Netflix and Disney. A merger would allow them to spread the money they spend on movies and TV shows across a wider base of subscribers, perhaps leading to better profitability.
CNN and CBS News, two of the most recognizable brands in journalism, would be a powerful combination. It could also result in significant cost-cutting for the combined company because of the overlap in newsgathering and production costs.
CBS News, the venerable network that was home to Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow, recently brought on board Bari Weiss, an opinion journalist who founded The Free Press, as its editor in chief. It’s unclear whether she would have oversight over CNN, the globe-spanning news colossus known for its blanket coverage of international affairs and breaking news, if the two companies merged.
While traditional cable networks are enormously profitable — generating hundreds of millions of dollars in cash — they are losing viewers and relevance every quarter. Some companies, like Comcast and Warner Bros., have been responding to that decline by spinning off their traditional TV businesses.
Not Paramount. The company behind “South Park” and “Yellowstone” is holding on to those channels, betting that those franchises will be popular with millions of viewers on both traditional TV and streaming. Acquiring a lineup of popular new channels would allow Paramount to shore up its leverage in negotiations with cable companies like Charter, which pay to distribute its programs. Both companies also rent rights to live sports, one of the last must-see programs in the imploding cable universe.
Prestige television is a linchpin for streaming companies, which rely on quality shows to entice new subscribers and keep existing customers happy. While HBO and Showtime are still reliable sources of traditional TV profits, both services are increasingly viewed as a supplier for their digital counterparts, HBO Max and Paramount+.
