Mere months after the completion of the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger, the newly formed mass media and entertainment conglomerate may have its sights on yet another merger.
The Hollywood Reporter reports Warner Bros. Discovery could end up merging with Comcast’s NBCUniversal, though negotiations would have to wait until April 2024 to begin due to the complicated structure of the possible merger.
After all, in the so-called streaming wars, the only way to succeed is to be big.
Through the merger, Warner Bros. Discovery instantly became one of the largest content providers in the world, which includes WarnerMedia’s superb scripted content – led by awards darling HBO and the Warner Bros. film studio. This ensured the new company was not only in a position to triumph but to take on Netflix, Disney, Amazon and Apple for global streaming superiority.
Therefore, it stands to reason merging would offer NBCUniversal the same benefits, allowing Comcast CEO Brian Roberts to give the company scale and worthwhile streaming service.
“Obviously Peacock sucks,” one executive with knowledge of both companies told THR. “There are some good synergies. I’m sure [Roberts] is licking his chops because the [Warner Bros. Discovery] stock is so low. And I think that’s [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David] Zaslav’s endgame. Get the place sold.”
In response, a Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson stated: “We are building Warner Bros. Discovery for the long term.”
All of this, of course, is still early, and it may not even happen.
But many senior business executives are so certain that a merger will go through that they are already grieving an occasion that might never occur, the news outlet reports.
“People feel like it’s Comcast for sure,” the head of one company said to THR. “It’s going to be so depressing to lose another major studio [after Disney bought Fox]. And Warners was the Tiffany studio.”