The Wall Street Journal has revealed that Paramount Skydance is preparing to make a majority cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. The Ellison family is backing these plans, and shares of Warner Bros. have surged by 30% (Paramount has increased by 7%) since the news broke.
It's said that the bid will be for the entire company, including its cable networks—like HBO—and the Warner Bros. Pictures movie studio. DC Studios also falls under that umbrella, of course.
This comes mere weeks after David Ellison's company Skydance bought Paramount Global for $8.4 billion. David is the son of billionaire Larry Ellison, and a Paramount/WBD merger would be a game-changer for Hollywood. Whether it would be for the best is debatable.
The prospective deal highlights the escalating consolidation frenzy in the media landscape, with legacy giants scrambling to bulk up and bolster their streaming clout as TV audiences dwindle and content budgets soar.
Following Paramount's merger with Skydance Media, David Ellison is on a mission to supercharge the company's cinematic lineup and streaming goals while slashing costs and revamping the faltering Paramount+ platform.
The Ellison clan has been pivotal in bankrolling Skydance's growth. Industry insiders point out that snapping up Warner Bros Discovery would likely demand hefty private funding, considering the deal’s massive scope and the constraints of Paramount Skydance’s financial reserves.
What does this mean for DC Studios and the DCU? It's far too soon to say, but Paramount is lacking on big money franchises and down the line, we can probably expect some Transformers/Justice League comic book crossovers!
Yesterday, controversial Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav addressed the company's future and weighed in on the chatter surrounding streamers cracking down on password sharing.
"We haven’t been pushing on the password sharing and the economics, yet. People are really starting to love HBO Max. That’s the key," he explained. "We want them to fall in love with our content, with our series, with the differentiated offering outside the U.S., and then over time, you know — and it’s a little tricky with the password sharing — we’re going to begin to push on that."
"I think our ability to raise prices as people become more and more in love with the quality that we have and the series that we have and the offering that we have," Zaslav added.
The executive also confirmed that he expects the planned separation of the company to be completed by next year, noting, "We expect sometime in April that the companies will be split."
As always, stay tuned for updates as we have them.