Mergers between large companies are rarely a good thing in the long run for consumers. Competition helps drive the market in favor of buyers. When companies start buying out the competition, suddenly, there are fewer options for consumers. We see this in any number of industries, but we’re specifically seeing it more in the media landscape. The upcoming, dangerously Donald Trump-friendly acquisition of Warner Bros. by Paramount is not helping things. But as an episode of The Simpsons (now owned by Disney) once famously exclaimed, “Won’t somebody please think of the children!” Or Netflix and the children, in this case.
Streaming Strategies
The evolution of the streaming landscape has changed considerably since the days when it was basically just Netflix. There was a time when, effectively, all Netflix had to do was license content from anyone, and it would be available. This started changing when every major media company wanted its own streaming platform and stopped licensing things out. Why would NBC want to license out The Office when it could keep it for its own platform, Peacock? Then things got complicated again.
A reversal of this logic started taking place at Warner Bros. with HBO Max. They started axing a lot of kids’ content and animation. The Looney Tunes library started getting destroyed, as did Cartoon Network and Adult Swim shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast. Instead, some of these programs would get licensed off to other networks in hopes of making some money off of them. Paramount had done the same, specifically with throwing some of their programs onto Netflix.
Is Netflix Okay?
Now, Netflix may have a problem. Should the Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery go through, there’s a chance they’ll want to pull all their content in-house again. Unfortunately, this means that some of the most-watched kids’ shows on Netflix would get yanked. Among the most-watched children’s shows on Netflix are SpongeBob SquarePants, Teen Titans Go!, and The Amazing World of Gumball. Of these three, the first is owned by Paramount and the latter by Warner Bros. Discovery.
The smart thing for whatever Paramount WBD decides to call itself to do is look at how much value these shows add to Netflix. Then, assess whether it would be better to have them on your own streaming service vs. the revenue gained from licensing them out. Paramount effectively learned this lesson the hard way when it made the mistake of licensing South Park out to HBO Max. Only later did they realize how much it would’ve benefited them to have the show for Paramount+. There’s a reason there was a lawsuit over this.
The Future
All we can do for now is speculate, as the merger still has to clear the U.S. Government. We also need to hear what the head honchos at Paramount have in store for their media empire. We do expect there to be upheavals in streaming platforms in terms of content and price.
We’ll keep you informed as we hear more. These may be dystopian times for media freedom, but you can’t say they’re uninteresting.
