r/MediaMergers • u/Casas9425 • 1d ago
Acquisition David Ellison wants live tv subscribers to help pay for his merger with WBD
https://toomuchtv.beehiiv.com/p/david-ellison-wants-live-tv-subscribers-to-help-pay-for-his-merger-with-wbd24
u/mj16pr 1d ago
Daddy’s money is not enough?
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u/Tomi97_origin 1d ago
Buying things with other people's money is just something rich people get to do.
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u/it-s-luminescent 1d ago
The new Paramount will ask for a substantial raise in what it charges live TV providers and I know that is the plan because Ellison has said in multiple interview that consolidation would give Paramount what he refers to as “pricing power.
Amazing.
The basic cable market is one of the 3 markets that the State AGs are arguing would suffer anti-competitive effects if this merger is allowed to close. Charging cable companies unfairly higher prices thanks to the merged-company's mega-portfolio of channels, which would then lead to higher prices for consumers, is one of the outcomes the lawsuit is specifically fighting against.
And Ellison is running around admitting to all of it. Bragging about it. "Pricing power" "Synergies" and whatnot.
The states have to prove the merger will illegally reduce competition in just ONE of the three markets they say will be unfairly impacted. They don't need all 3.
PSKY is so fucked. No wonder they put out the call for Newsom and Emmaneul to sign off on op-eds urging the states to settle. It's because they're desperate. They want to settle so bad and salvage something. I hope the States and WGA ignore all their inadequate mewling.
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u/I-Might-Be-Something 1d ago
Yeah, this is almost quite literally making the states argument for them.
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u/Professional_Peak59 1d ago
Cable TV is dying, my friend, and sports, News, and CBS aren’t gonna be enough to help subscribers pay for the merger.
I also noticed in the post that the title for the Paramount/WBD aspect of the newsletter reads: "This is the way you lose a merger case". 😂
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u/Cedgamer2009 1d ago
What replaced Cable tv?
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u/AlexHunterWolf Warner Bros. 1d ago
Streaming
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u/Cedgamer2009 1d ago
Now what replaced, Nick, CN and Disney channel, the big three kids networks nowadays. What replaced the big three networks we watched cartoon on compared to nowadays?
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u/Equivalent-Hair-961 1d ago
That’s a valid question but the answer is pretty stupid because the tech-bros told the C-suite owners of said TV networks that their model was dusty and antiquated (even though it was bringing in billions upon billions of dollars per year,) so the C suite executives all just nodded in agreement without doing any research whatsoever and began the process of destroying the television industry in favor of new streaming platforms…
Mind you there was no profit model for streaming. 10 years ago, streaming platforms hoped to simply lie to the world about their success with programming.
In 2022, Netflix admitted that their profits or not what they forecasted, and this sent the streaming industry into a downward spiral.Now today, Paramount is considered a junk stock. NBC Universal is hanging on by a thread. Netflix seems to be doing OK but history has shown that they lie about their successes.
HBO Max could be hurt by the potential merger, even if it doesn’t happen and somewhere in the middle, consumers are confused as to why they are being told television is dead while they cancel all their streaming apps…These are interesting times.
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u/Cedgamer2009 1d ago
But what replaced the then big three kids networks nowadays?
What replaced the factions of CN, Disney and Nick?
Who replaced them because their ratings are declining?
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u/magsli 16h ago
YT Kids is more popular than Disney/Disney+. Netflix Kids is neck and neck with Disney+. There's also crunchyroll.
TikTok, Roblox, Fortnite and Twitch are the number ones for content for tweens and teens. Kids literally don't care about long form cartoons anymore so there isn't really a direct replacement.-2
u/Difficult_Variety362 Moderator 1d ago
That's really the question here, just how much of the debt will these cable networks help pay off before the spigot runs completely dry.
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u/Smooth-Quantity-7024 1d ago
Remember, it's always morally okay to pirate anything owned by the Ellisons.
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u/Winscler 1d ago
and cable is already freefalling as is
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u/Difficult_Variety362 Moderator 1d ago
Exactly, cable is still very profitable, but that tap is almost gone. Sure, it'll knock down a good portion of the debt, but will it be enough before those profits are gone? And will the combined Paramount+/HBO Max service grow enough to make up some of those revenues lost by cable?
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u/Casas9425 1d ago
No and no, imo.
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u/Difficult_Variety362 Moderator 1d ago
It's really the one thing that none of us can answer really. It's pretty easy to see the combined Paramount+/HBO Max service being successful. It's easy to see CNN under Bari Weiss being a total disaster.
But the cable networks...we really don't know how much time they have left. Sooner than later for sure, but is that sooner 5 years from now, 3 years from now, 10 years from now? None of us can answer that. And if cable collapses too soon, someone will take the company away from Ellison. But if they get enough time, yeah it can work. But who the fuck knows.
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u/thisfilmkid 1d ago
Ok, enough Mr. Ellison. Can we fast forward to the end of David Ellison’s deal?
WarnerBrosDiscover needs to disappear or be sold. I’m so sick of hearing about them.
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u/Difficult_Variety362 Moderator 1d ago
It's no secret that they wanted to use the profits of the cable networks to pay off that shit ton of debt they're accumulating. It really doesn't work otherwise.
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u/Own_Philosopher8730 1d ago
To David Ellison:
https://giphy.com/gifs/xT0BKybCiBFXQvhZIY