NEW YORK — Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders are set to vote on Thursday on the company’s proposed $81-billion sale to Skydance-owned Paramount, in a mega-merger that could vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape.
Paramount wants to buy all of Warner. That means HBO Max, cult-favorite titles like “Harry Potter,” and CNN could soon find themselves under the same roof as Paramount’s CBS, “Top Gun” and the Paramount+ streaming service. And a greenlight from shareholders would bring the acquisition closer to the finish line.
Shareholders are expected to meet to vote on the deal, which is valued at nearly $111 billion, including debt, based on Warner’s current outstanding shares.
Even if approved, a Paramount-Warner combo would still face ongoing regulatory reviews, including from the United States Department of Justice. Warner has said it expects to close the deal sometime in the third fiscal quarter.
Paramount’s quest for Warner has been far from smooth sailing. And while Warner’s board now endorses the Paramount merger, it wasn’t always eager to enter this particular marriage.
Late last year, Warner rebuffed Paramount’s overtures to instead strike a $72-billion studio and streaming deal with Netflix. Paramount, meanwhile, went directly to shareholders with a hostile bid to take over the whole company, including the cable business that Netflix did not want.
All three companies spent months fighting publicly over who had the better offer on the table. Warner’s board repeatedly backed Netflix’s bid. But eventually, Paramount offered more money and Netflix abruptly bowed out of the race rather than prolonging the fight.
That corporate drama may now be over, but the implications remain. Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have voiced “unequivocal opposition” to the deal, in a letter arguing that further consolidation will lead to job losses and fewer choices for filmmakers and movie goers.
The merger would bring together two of Hollywood’s remaining five legacy studios. It would also join two major streaming platforms — Paramount+ and HBO Max — and two big names in America’s TV news landscape — CBS and CNN — as well as a heap of other brands and entertainment networks.
Company executives argue this will be good news for consumers, who they say will have access to bigger content libraries, particularly if HBO Max and Paramount+ become one streaming service. And Paramount CEO David Ellison has tried to assure filmmakers with a 45-day theatrical window guarantee and goal to release 30 movies a year between Paramount and Warner, which he’s said will remain stand-alone operations under a combined company.
“I love cinema, and I love film,” Ellison said at CinemaCon last week. “You can count on our complete commitment.”
But the new owner will also be looking to cut costs. Regulatory filings have already indicated that would include layoffs and downsizing some overlapping operations. And critics are skeptical about consumer benefits — warning of higher prices that could arise when it comes to streaming and potentially less diversity in content down the road.
Then there’s the news. Since coming under Skydance ownership less than a year ago, Paramount-owned CBS has already seen significant editorial shifts, notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief. If the Warner takeover goes through, many are expecting similar changes at CNN, which has long attracted ire from President Donald Trump.
