Summary
- Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global are in preliminary talks for a possible merger, according to sources.
- David Zaslav and Bob Bakish met on Tuesday to discuss the media conglomerates merging.
- A merger would bring the DCU and Star Trek together under the same company, similar to Disney’s control of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars.
Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global could be joining forces in 2024. According to Deadline, a “well-placed” source reports that the President and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount, Bob Bakish, met with the President and Chief Executive Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, to discuss the possibility of a merger between the mass media and entertainment conglomerates. The unnamed source told the trade these are “preliminary” talks:
It was all rather preliminary. [Shari Redstone] is on a bit of a listening tour to see what she might be able to get if she decides to sell the company or part of it.
Redstone is the Chairwoman of Paramount Global and the President of National Amusements, and she is responsible for facilitating the $12-billion merger of Viacom Inc. and the CBS Corporation into ViacomCBS back in December of 2019 (per the Los Angeles Times). Redstone is also the controlling shareholder of Paramount (10% owner of Paramount’s equity capital with 77.3% of the voting shares), according to The Wrap. It was also revealed that two other sources have come forward to confirm that the preliminary merger talks between Bakish and Zaslav did take place in New York City, as the unnamed source relayed.
Warner Bros. Discovery & Paramount Talk Meger
Star Trek and the DCU may soon belong to the same company. According to an earlier report by Deadline, the CEO of Skydance Media, David Ellison, even emerged as a possible suitor to acquire “all or part” of Paramount before CEO, Bob Bakish, and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, David Zaslav, met in New York City on Tuesday, December 19, to talk about merging their two powerhouses. RedBird Capital was also reportedly in the mix.
It’s important to note that the aforementioned Chairwoman of Paramount Global, Shari Redstone, was not physically in attendance when Bakish and Zaslav met on Tuesday at Paramount’s headquarters, which is located in Times Square. It stands to reason, though, that Redstone could have been involved via a Zoom or similar video conference call, but there’s no indication that actually happened. However, it was revealed that Redstone did meet with Zaslav last week, according to the same report.
Beyond the financial implications, and how such a merger will affect the stock market, it’s interesting to look at a Warner Bros. Discovery/Paramount marriage strictly from the fans’ point of view. Such a merger would mean that the DCU and Star Trek would be a part of the same company — much like Disney now controls the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars brands. Yes, unlike the CBS and Viacom merger, Star Trek could truly go where virtually no property has gone before.
A merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery couldn’t happen right away, though. Even if that meeting with Bakish and Zaslav on Tuesday ended with a hearty handshake and an enthusiastic, “Let’s do this,” a deal couldn’t be inked until that two-year lockup resulting from the WarnerMedia and Discovery merger expires in April of 2024 — an enormous merger of $43 billion.
According to the same report, “Axios had the first report on the talks.” And, at the time of this writing, neither Warner Bros. Discovery nor Paramount Global have officially commented on the meeting between Bakish and Zaslav, much less a possible merger.
