[Omnipresent]

Warner Bros Discovery is reported to be in discussions to merge with Paramount Global:

www.axios.com 

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  Source: www.axios.com

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish on Tuesday in New York City to discuss a possible merger, Axios has learned from multiple sources.

[James2001]

Which would put Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon under the same ownership, which would be bizarre.

[BBCChameleonFan]

Which would put Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon under the same ownership, which would be bizarre.

It sure would! I can’t imagine two competing kids brands being owned by the same company.

[ckck1704]

The department of justice simply won't let this happen. Besides, wbd owns part of the cw, and therefore either that or cbs would need to be spun off. Wbd and paramount will not be able to merge.

[Keith]

Warner Bros Discovery is reported to be in discussions to merge with Paramount Global:

www.axios.com 

Given what's happened within WBD since they merged I'm not sure this potential merger would be good for Paramount Global, let alone the viewers. WBD's own merger has notably seen many tax write-offs, despite some of those productions being essentially completed.

Speculating, but if this potential merger did happen I could see Paramount+ streaming service being axed. WBD's own streaming service "Max" has a name which is conveniently generic enough to probably include Paramount content. It would be interesting to see what if anything happened in the UK to Channel 5 and its sister linear channels & streaming service.

[VMPhil]

I would have thought this would flag up major competition concerns. As Keith says above, can't see this being a win for anyone.

[Brekkie]

Agree - certainly no benefit to the viewer or those working in the industry and it's hard to see the merger of Warner Bros and Discovery as anything but a disaster for both companies, and it doesn't seem to have solved any financial woes either.

There have been rumours of a demerger once again of Viacom/CBS so I suspect that might happen to get around any competition concerns.

[Rdd]

The department of justice simply won't let this happen. Besides, wbd owns part of the cw, and therefore either that or cbs would need to be spun off. Wbd and paramount will not be able to merge.

They only own a small minority stake now, since they and their original co owners (guess who? CBS, part of Paramount) sold out to Nexstar. The CW won’t be an issue (and indeed there was no issue with CBS owning 50% of the CW for most of its existence). It’s not like the 21CF/Disney deal which potentially involved ABC and Fox under the one roof (the Murdochs held on to Fox to avoid that).

I think there’s a number of areas of concern, but none is likely to be an obstacle. One is the combination of Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros Pictures. Another is the combination of CBS News and CNN. Yet another is the combination of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Still another is Max and Paramount+. But in none of those areas would a combined player be dominant. And for that reason I think this stands a good chance that this will get through US competition authorities. That doesn’t mean I think it’s a good thing for viewers or content makers, given what WBD (who would be the buyers here) has done, but ultimately that won’t be the test - as always, the directors of each company will make a recommendation on any deal reached based on value to shareholders, who are the only people they are accountable to.

Anyway, by all accounts these are only exploratory talks, and there is no deal yet.

[ckck1704]

They only own a small minority stake now, since they and their original co owners (guess who? CBS, part of Paramount) sold out to Nexstar. The CW won’t be an issue (and indeed there was no issue with CBS owning 50% of the CW for most of its existence). It’s not like the 21CF/Disney deal which potentially involved ABC and Fox under the one roof (the Murdochs held on to Fox to avoid that).

I think there’s a number of areas of concern, but none is likely to be an obstacle. One is the combination of Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros Pictures. Another is the combination of CBS News and CNN. Yet another is the combination of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Still another is Max and Paramount+. But in none of those areas would a combined player be dominant. And for that reason I think this stands a good chance that this will get through US competition authorities. That doesn’t mean I think it’s a good thing for viewers or content makers, given what WBD (who would be the buyers here) has done, but ultimately that won’t be the test - as always, the directors of each company will make a recommendation on any deal reached based on value to shareholders, who are the only people they are accountable to.

Anyway, by all accounts these are only exploratory talks, and there is no deal yet.

If this does go through, I'm sure both parties will be required to divest large amounts of their properties. It would simply not be viable.

[Adsales]

They only own a small minority stake now, since they and their original co owners (guess who? CBS, part of Paramount) sold out to Nexstar. The CW won’t be an issue (and indeed there was no issue with CBS owning 50% of the CW for most of its existence). It’s not like the 21CF/Disney deal which potentially involved ABC and Fox under the one roof (the Murdochs held on to Fox to avoid that).

I think there’s a number of areas of concern, but none is likely to be an obstacle. One is the combination of Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros Pictures. Another is the combination of CBS News and CNN. Yet another is the combination of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Still another is Max and Paramount+. But in none of those areas would a combined player be dominant. And for that reason I think this stands a good chance that this will get through US competition authorities. That doesn’t mean I think it’s a good thing for viewers or content makers, given what WBD (who would be the buyers here) has done, but ultimately that won’t be the test - as always, the directors of each company will make a recommendation on any deal reached based on value to shareholders, who are the only people they are accountable to.

Anyway, by all accounts these are only exploratory talks, and there is no deal yet.

This. There is nothing that would make this merger impossible or not be allowed to happen other than the standard requirements of selling off certain assets to third parties (or closing them).

The CW is of no concern whatsoever. Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network no big obstacle either. The potential problems lie with the studios (Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures), as per usual, but where's a will there's a way.
CBS News plus CNN wouldn't even get close to a quarter marketshare, let alone dominance.
Consolidation of streamers is well overdue and needed; and a merger of Max and Paramount+ is easily structured in a way that satisfies competition authorities if that concern is raised.

If it's not WBD and Paramount who merger, it'll be a combination of or with the others. The industry isn't going to survive in its current form.