AT&T wants to merge entertainment assets with Discovery

I don’t understand how this is supposed to make HBOMax more competitive? Doesn’t this just saddle a new company with more legacy brands (dozens of dying cable channels)?

Just imagine the crossover possibilities: Sandra Lee on CNN! Don Lemon on "Worst Cooks in America!"

CNN Host Cooking Competition

Joanna Gaines as NuSamantha in “And Just Like That”, the “Sex and the City” revamp.

So this is AT&T admitting their purchase of Warner was a huge mistake?

[quote]There has been chatter in the marketplace that AT&T was quietly talking to Comcast about possible combinations for NBCUniversal with the WarnerMedia assets.

This would at least make more sense, adding Peacock's library to HBO Max, but it still shouldn't happen because more media consolidation would be an awful idea.

AT&T basically wanted one asset, HBO, for which they had to buy the whole Time Warner kit and kaboodle. These huge cable-era conglomerates can never compete with Netflix’s leanness and efficiency. IMO they should have just spun off all linear television assets into a new company except for HBO, with Warner Bros simply a production feeder for HBOMax programming.

This is really fucked up.

Holy shit the CEO of Discovery will be the CEO of the new company, not Jason Kilar. What a train wreck!

So I guess AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner is going to go down as one of the worst mergers in history. I always thought the correct owner for Warner Brothers’ assets would have been Apple.

It’s amazing how such an iconic and storied asset as Warner Brothers studio is now just one asset among many, on par with Animal Planet

I wonder if it would actually behoove them to sell or spin off off Warner Brothers studios, whose success is historically from creating entertainments for third parties (ie Friends or Big Bang Theory) rather than just feeding content to HBO.

[quote] So I guess AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner is going to go down as one of the worst mergers in history.

Not even AT&T's worst merger, that would be the DirecTV merger. DirecTV was valued at $16.25 billion when it was spun off in March, AT&T paid $48.5 billion for DirecTV in 2014.

[quote] I always thought the correct owner for Warner Brothers’ assets would have been Apple.

Which explains why you’re not running a technology or media company.

[quote]So I guess AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner is going to go down as one of the worst mergers in history. I always thought the correct owner for Warner Brothers’ assets would have been Apple.

Let's not forget AOL-TimeWarner

Does this mean Bill Maher will get to have the 1000lb Sisters as panelists on Real Time?

does this mean that since I'm already a subscriber to HBO Max that Discovery + will now be included in it?

They will probably charge you more r15

Confusing because "spin-off" usually means ATT shareholders will be receiving stock in the new entity. Instead ATT will control 71 percent of the new entity, with Discovery holding the rest and pretty much managing it. Sounds like a recipe for conflict down the road between the two parties. Dumb.

Think where ATT shareholders would be today if the company had just stuck to its core business. "Born to Lose" must be management's theme song.

I wonder what the response will be from Comcast

I thought they should have bought Viacom, pre the CBS merger

I don’t think either Peacock or Paramount Plus are viable as stand alones, and it may be necessary for a partnership

R18 I think Shari Redstone was probably the problem with that, it's clear she wanted the re-merger and wasn't going to accept something which diluted her control.

R17

[quote] AT&T’s shareholders would receive stock representing 71% of the new company

Why isn't TCM showing as one of the assets in any of those graphics?

Seems like this would not be a good time to sign up for either HBOMax or Discovery+ (or at least not both of them.)

Not sure I understand this deal. Is AT&T no longer going to own WarnerMedia?

AT&T will be the majority shareholder of the new publicly traded company that will be comprised of the former WarnerMedia and Discovery.

NO R24, AT&T will own zero percent of the new company, AT&T shareholders will receive stock representing 71% of the new company, while Discovery shareholders will receive stock representing 29% of the new company. AT&T will receive 43 billion in cash and debt.

AT&T will also be cutting its dividend.

I feel bad for Warner employees. They seem to go through this every couple of years.

The new company will be called Warner Bros. Discovery

That’s an impressive eight syllables, longer than NBC Universal

Never get tired of this meme

This is why the media needs to be nationalized.

That IS just awful, r28.

Warner Bros. Discovery