Get ready for the CBS/Fox-ification of CNN:
Netflix is declining to raise its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business, in a stunning move that effectively puts Paramount in a position to take over the fellow storied Hollywood giant.
On Thursday, after Warner’s board announced that Skydance-owned Paramount’s offer was superior to the agreement it had previously struck with Netflix, the streaming giant said the new price that would be required to buy Warner would make it a deal that is “no longer financially attractive.”
Unlike Netflix’s bid, Paramount wants all of Warner’s operations, including networks like CNN and Discovery. That would put CNN under the same roof as Paramount’s CBS and combine two of Hollywood’s last five remaining studios.
The owner of HBO Max, DC Studios and popular titles like “Harry Potter” had backed Netflix’s proposal for months. But after Skydance-owned Paramount upped its rival bid for the entire company to $31 per share, in addition to other revisions, Warner’s board on Thursday said that the offer “constitutes a ‘company superior proposal.’”
A Paramount buyout Warner’s business would vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape. Paramount’s CBS has seen significant editorial shifts, notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss at CBS News, under new Skydance ownership. And if Paramount’s acquisition of Warner is successful, many expect the reach of those changes to only grow. [snip]
... Paramount is taking on billions of dollars in debt to finance its offer. And David Ellison’s father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, is heavily backing the bid for his son’s company. Foreign sovereign wealth funds have also provided equity for the offer, drawing scrutiny.
The Ellisons also have a close relationship with President Donald Trump — bringing more politics into question. Trump previously made unprecedented suggestions about his involvement in seeing a deal through, before walking back those statements and maintaining that regulatory approval will be up to the Justice Department... (our emphasis)
The Malignant Fascist's DOJ will provide approval faster than you can say "corrupt." The involvement of "foreign sovereign wealth funds" -- Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar -- will also ensure that no media (news, movies, etc.) will be produced or aired that's critical of the Malignant Fascist's corrupt authoritarian Middle Eastern pals in the future.
Our democracy is hanging by a thread. The ongoing media mega-consolidations around right-wing oligarchs absolutely needs to be challenged now, but if that's unsuccessful, rolled back if and when Democrats regain power in this country.
(Image: Trump and his billionaire butt boy David Ellison / Photo illustration: Vulture / Photos: Getty Images (Anna Moneymaker, Kristina Bumphrey/Variety))
CNN has been a fairly reliable source for the kind of reporting I do, and no doubt could continue to be ... but so was CBS. What I have found since I began not reviewing or linking to CBS is as I knew it would be whatever it is can be found elsewhere. Same with CNN. Grant I'm an oddball media consumer but I am sure my eyes are not the only ones looking elsewhere ...
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