Nice to see the Titanic bulk up right before it hits the iceberg.
Get Ellison Snr involved - he ran Oracle, who are the kings of making you pay exorbitant prices for very little
2 Likes
The merger is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject regulatory clearances and approval by WBD shareholders, with a vote expected in the early spring.
Netflix confirmed it had received a US$2.8 billion termination fee from Paramount on behalf of WBD.
1 Like
A report trending online suggesting it has been leaked that Zaslav is quietly hoping the deal doesn’t get regulatory approval and then WBD get $7b and they “get back to work”.
2 Likes
“It is unusual and remarkably creative and clever to try to complete your merger review with the federal government before you’ve even secured a deal,” said Lee Hepner, senior legal counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “He’s really shortened the window for a challenge after the merger is approved.”
1 Like
This part is interesting
“Combined sports rights will include the NFL, Olympics, UFC, PGA Tour, NHL, Big Ten and Big 12 Football, NCAA College Basketball, and Champions League, with the ability to distribute these rights collectively across all of its platforms.”
The only potential positive would be collation of those rights. Potentially one brand (be it TNT or CBS or P+) and subscription?
Events like the Summer and Winter Olympics are firmly embedded within TNT Sports/Eurosport’s rights portfolio on WBD’s side of the merged company. So even though a hypothetical WarnerParamount would control a vast overall sports portfolio, that would not automatically give CBS the ability to air the Olympics — or any other events held by TNT — unless there were already an established partnership between CBS and TNT Sports’ U.S. arm. The same logic applies to Network 10 and Channel 5: unless they independently secure free-to-air rights to a specific event, they cannot legitimately claim to be the ‘home’ of it.
WarnerParamount could, of course, promote and distribute streaming rights in territories where those rights apply — for example via Paramount+ or HBO Max within particular regions. However, that does not mean HBO Max or Paramount+ would suddenly become dominant global sports powerhouse overnight. Rights ownership would still remain territory-specific, contract-based, and platform-dependent post merge.
1 Like
5 Likes
Hbo max is the best streaming interface and ui. Paramount + is crap
1 Like
Of course they will merge. It must happen. There are significant efficiencies to be had.
I wonder if they’ll go back to “Max”.
I can’t see the HBO side being happy if they are pushed into Paramount+.
2 Likes
ParamountMax? Paramax?
That almost sounds like a tablet that last one haha
3 Likes
HBO+.
Simples.
paraMORE?
That’s who I was thinking of 
keep in mind that they have been planning this since october last year
when they were constantly bidding for them btw