Another day, another twist in the mess that is the world of big media companies. It’s no secret that the likes of Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, and more have been feeling the hurt lately. All of the major players have been finding out that running your own streaming platform isn’t cheap or easy. In particular, Paramount scrubbed online content in order to direct people to Paramount+. But that cost saving measure is just putting a bandage on a sucking chest wound, which may be why they’re looking to merge with another company.
While there are no certainties in the business world, there are some bets that are much safer than others. So if you had to place bets on streaming platforms that can stand on their own, Netflix and Hulu/Disney+ seem like they’ll be fine. And even though MAX (formerly HBO Max) has made some questionable decisions after their parent company merged with Discovery, they still have a glut of content to help them survive.
Hell, they were trying to sell to either Sony or Skydance for a while there. If they were to merge Paramount+ with another platform, they wouldn’t have to absorb as much of the cost for the service while potentially bolstering their subscriber numbers. Royalties, residuals, and licensing costs aren’t cheap, but if they split that cost with someone else, it could help them.
Paramount is reportedly interested in partnering with Warner Bros. Discovery and MAX. Both of the media companies have been trying to cut costs anywhere they can, so the match-up seems like a good one. It may even help take care of that nasty little dispute they have going on over “South Park” streaming rights. It’s also possible that a partial deal could be arranged just to offload SHOWTIME, Paramount’s all but neglected cable network that has nothing to show for itself anymore except “Dexter“ spin-offs.
If this did happen, it would open up the door to other possible mergers between streamers. What’s Peacock going to do by its lonesome? Aside from being the only place to stream “The Office,” it really doesn’t have anything else to help support it outside “Poker Face.” (And also the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.)
Regardless of how things go, we will continue to update if something happens.
