I don’t mean to say that the Ellisons will close CNN. Far from it. They’ll make it into a propaganda network, much like Fox News.
Integrate CBS News into the CNN infrastructure.
You don’t even have to change the name - CNN can stand for CBS News Network, just add the Eye.
Don’t you just love the continued consolidation of American media?
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Bloomberg reported on Sunday morning that it is an early “no”.
Ellison can still try to get a deal via other means.
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It’s finally official, folks. Only confirmed player at the moment is Paradance with an apparently lowball offer.
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How about one more?
Stock currently up 3.5% premarket, on top of the 10% gain from yesterday’s session.
It has rallied 22.8% since Oct 10 close.
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Netflix would have two options. It could hoard the entire library on its own service and use the mammoth catalogue – which includes franchises and brands such as Harry Potter, the DC Universe, Looney Tunes, as well as HBO series like Succession, The Wire, The White Lotus and Game of Thrones – to drive up engagement. Or it could continue to license the titles as WBD already does, with global sales teams already in place generating billions of dollars in revenue annually.
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Netflix would make way more money licencing the Warner’s library, including continuing new titles from new and existing IP. Theatrical, tvod, home entertainment, pay tv, svod, avod, FTA, bvod. Even if they decided to keep exclusive svod rights.
Vs keeping every rights exclusive to Netflix svod only nor exploiting the IP further, in the hope for extra subs.
I doubt they’d attract too many more subscribers because of the WB content.
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https://puck.news/wbd-guessing-games-david-zaslavs-90-billion-sale-vs-split/ (PAYWALLED)
Completing his proposed split-up of Warner Bros. Discovery remains an option for our friend David Zaslav, but I think he is nonetheless pretty much resigned to sell the company, with the inevitable blessing of his board and shareholders. Indeed, the notion of Zaz taking the Streaming and Studios business and his C.F.O., Gunnar Wiedenfels, leading the Global Networks business increasingly seems like a paper tiger—a potential outcome that the bankers at Allen & Company, Evercore, and JPMorgan Chase can compare to the other bids as an intellectual exercise in their fairness opinions, if nothing else.
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Netflix obviously has more financial firepower [than Comcast], with a market cap of $445 billion and roughly $5 billion in net debt. [Peter] Supino [at Wolfe Research] thinks Netflix can pay between $60 billion and $80 billion for Streaming and Studios and still have it be accretive to the company’s 2028 earnings. Comcast, on the other hand, has a $100 billion market cap and about $90 billion of net debt, as of September 30. So if there’s a prolonged head-to-head battle for Streaming and Studios between Netflix and Comcast, it’s hard to argue with Peter that the valuation of Streaming and Studios could reach $80 billion, with Netflix emerging victorious.
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Let’s face it: Even though it makes no sense intellectually, the regulatory burden for both Comcast and Netflix is going to be greater than for the Ellisons. [Brian] Roberts [CEO of Comcast]’s Damascene conversion to Trump will probably be too little, too late, even if he can mount a financially competitive bid—a big if, to be honest. And Netflix owning both its own streaming business and HBO Max may be a bridge too far for antitrust regulators, as much business sense as it would make. If the bids are close, in the end, I think PSKY takes it.
Round 2 for bids has started, with a deadline set for Dec 1. WBD is looking for a higher, but “sweetened” overall financial threshold. Afterwards, WBD “may enter a period of exclusive negotiations with one of the companies”. The news was first reported by Bloomberg and was later summarised by Variety.
Please don’t let PSKY get it…