Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global in Merger Talks

[Edmilson 7,466]

Well, it seems that WBD is interested in merging with Paramount Global according to Variety.

 

https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/warner-bros-discovery-paramount-merger-talks-1235847958/

[Manakin Skywalker 4,897]

[Edmilson 7,466]

For us 90s and 2000s kids, the most insane part is that, if this happens, it'll be the merging between Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

 

It could lead to some cool crossovers:

• Cow & Chicken and SpongeBob Squarepants; 
• Dexter's Laboratory and Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius; 
• Courage the Cowardly Dog and Ren & Stimpy; 
• Ed, Edd and Eddy and Hey Arnold!; 
• Mr. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and The Fairly Odd Parents; 
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Invader Zim;
• The PowerPuff Girls and My Life as a Teenage Robot;
• Adventure Time and Avatar: The Last Airbender;
• Ben 10 and Danny Phantom;
• We Bare Bears and The Penguins of Madagascar;
• And for the grown-ups: Rick and Morty and South Park

 

Of course, these days neither Warner nor Paramount care about their classic nor current cartoons. But that would be cool.

[Drawgoon 100]

Well, if it helps clear the path for LLLR or other specialty labels to release more titles from the Warner catalog, that'd be great!

 

Otherwise, this could be yet another major blow to... what should I call it... competition scene?

[Goldfinger 59]

Neither company is doing well apparently so maybe pooling resources and combining their fledgling streaming services into a one-stop destination rather than two separate entities might be beneficial to both sides. I would much prefer that both sides stay separate with someone like Apple coming in to steer Paramount in the right direction but the alternative for WB might be breaking up and selling the divisions to different orgs. 

[Bayesian 1,363]

On 20/12/2023 at 7:28 PM, Edmilson said:

For us 90s and 2000s kids, the most insane part is that, if this happens, it'll be the merging between Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

 

It could lead to some cool crossovers:

• Cow & Chicken and SpongeBob Squarepants; 
• Dexter's Laboratory and Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius; 
• Courage the Cowardly Dog and Ren & Stimpy; 
• Ed, Edd and Eddy and Hey Arnold!; 
• Mr. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and The Fairly Odd Parents; 
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Invader Zim;
• The PowerPuff Girls and My Life as a Teenage Robot;
• Adventure Time and Avatar: The Last Airbender;
• Ben 10 and Danny Phantom;
• We Bare Bears and The Penguins of Madagascar;
• And for the grown-ups: Rick and Morty and South Park

Of course, these days neither Warner nor Paramount care about their classic and current cartoons. But that could be cool.

Yup. And for every three that make it into postproduction, one will get sacrificed for the tax write-off.
 

[Nick1Ø66 4,718]

This is really good news.

 

There are WAY too many companies deciding what kind of content we get to consume. Too many "cooks in the kitchen" as it were. With fewer corporations deciding what we can watch, we don't have to think about what to watch so much...we just...watch. That's what consumers are supposed to do...consume. And the fewer companies deciding what we consume, the better for everyone. It's win-win.

 

 

 

 

[Jay 37,369]

In opposite news,

 

Lionsgate and Starz announce split

[Edmilson 7,466]

Apparently it is not happening anymore.

 

Warner Bros. Discovery halts merger talks with Paramount Global, sources say

 

Quote

• Warner Bros. Discovery is no longer pursuing a merger with Paramount Global as its shares trade near a 52-week low, according to people familiar with the matter.
• Skydance Media is still doing due diligence on a potential transaction with Paramount Global, the people said.
• Comcast isn’t interested in buying any Paramount Global assets but would consider commercial partnerships, like bundling or merging Peacock and Paramount+.

 

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Does that mean they can get back to important stuff, namely approving expansions?