In December, just as the world was getting ready to find some sort of peace in the wake of the second coming of President Trump, Netflix’s announcement that it had successfully concluded a deal to buy Warner Brothers Discovery had cold water poured on it.
This came about after rival bidder Paramount Skydance announced it was launching a hostile takeover to support its battle to buy not only Warner Brothers’ studios, streaming platform and archive but also its struggling cable businesses.
In the months since, there has been plenty of backroom negotiation as the two media giants sought to come out on top as the owner of the 100-year-plus body of Warner Brothers. This week, Netflix finally withdrew its offer, unwilling to match Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, who won the battle with an offer of $31 per share — $111bn in total.
Netflix, which had been gearing up for major changes in its offerings and organisation thanks to the foreseen acquisition of the Warner Bros studio and its library, described the deal as “nice to have at the right price” rather than a “must have at any price” and told staff it would continue to “grow organically”, as it has for the last 30 years.
While many industry observers and insiders had been secretly hoping for Netflix’s success as the more positive option for issues like freedom of the press and expression and greater consumer benefits, they have been forced to accept the reality and begun to consider what the Paramount acquisition may mean for consumers and the precarious US media environment at large.
The two biggest questions on most minds are what might happen to HBO and CNN, both of which will come under Paramount Skydance control once the offer has been approved by authorities — a mere formality thanks in no small part to Trump’s public preference for the success of Paramount’s takeover.
According to reports in Variety, HBO’s staff spent most of this past weekend “in a tailspin” as they anxiously pondered the future of a brand known for its independence and commitment to creators.
On Monday Ellison assured investors that Paramount intends to allow HBO to continue to function with independence and that “HBO should stay HBO”. That may sound like Ellison is making the right kind of noises to worried HBO staff, but whether it lasts is hard to say.
At CNN, which has been the object of Trump’s fury and accusations of “fake news” for more than a decade now, things are far less certain. Ellison’s acquisition of the pioneering cable news operation immediately makes the Paramount Skydance CEO one of the most powerful people in the traditional media space.
The CEO’s recent moves at CBS have done little to allay fears of political influence and Trump-supporting bias continuing to muddy the waters of journalistic independence. His appointment of Bari Weiss, the controversial founder of Free Press, as CBS News’ editor-in-chief has already caused controversy and the resignation of key veteran figures at the news channel.
CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson tried to put the minds of staffers at ease this week by writing an internal memo asking employees “not to jump to conclusions about the future” and urging them to “continue to focus on delivering the best possible journalism to the millions of people who rely on us all around the world”.
During an interview with CNBC in December, Ellison described his company’s approach to news as wanting to “build a scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle”.
For now, though, most ordinary streaming platform subscribers won’t see much difference, although it’s unclear yet what the acquisition will mean for territories like South Africa, where deals with providers like DStv and Showmax determine the availability of HBO and HBO Max shows.
In territories where Paramount Plus is available, the platform will soon include HBO and HBO Max content as part of its offering.
What’s certain is that there will be changes, and the biggest indicator of what Paramount really has in store will likely be revealed in what happens at CNN over the course of this year.
If you suddenly notice things in Atlanta becoming eerily “Fox News” in approach, then perhaps, as former CNN journalist Jim Acosta wrote on X recently, the Paramount deal may indeed herald the arrival of “state-compromised” media in America.
If not, then perhaps it’s all a lot of worst-case fretting, and the arrival of what John Oliver calls “a new business daddy” may not make much of a difference.
