Let's talk about the possibility, consequences and impact, timing, possible stumbliing blocks, people, layoffs, pay, locations, etc.
8 replies (most recent on top)
Agree with all the comments. The attempt to buy wbd is the opposite of what a truly creative ceo would do. Instead of buying wbd and all of its crazy debt, why not spend those billions on new creative? Reason is because skyfall has never generated original ip and has no creative bones in its body. It just overpays to take shortcuts to be in the picture. Sad
It'd probably be 10x worse than the Skydance/Para merger given that WBD is even bigger than both combined. Tons of redundancies and cost cutting and DE and co might even slash more on the Paramount side as to not upset his new acquisition. For us with a career in media, it's one less option to work for a big studio and I'd hate to see creativity get even more diluted. WB used to be so special (as was Paramount/Viacom), to see everything become the same would be so upsetting as a consumer. Hollywood is already so stagnant as it is.
House Dems still questioning sky dance merge with Para
I'd say it's 50/50 in terms of possibility. I think they have no option but to try to get bigger, it'll be hard to compete in any sense. With this in mind, Paramount & Warner Brothers may be a good match.
Another question is do we think the merger will or won't end up happening. What are the chances? thoughts?
Agree with the other 2 posts. ugh. Ready to change careers. Seems to be no end to all this in sight.
Probable layoffs: Corp, Finance, HR, Marketing, Ad Sales, Support, Apps / Streaming Product, IT & Tech & Engineering, Data/Analytics, plus overlapping Network + Studio
it is a BIG consolidation move... in a shrinking tv and streaming market... if it happens it will be targeted to cut costs, merge apps and libraries, and get more leverage. shady $$$ deals will follow it...
Expect 2 to 3 years of SUPER messy integration, MAJOR layoffs in overlapping roles (tech/IT, marketing, acctng/finance, hr, support), continued pressure on pay and bonuses + more work pushed into a few main hubs like la/nyc plus more offshoring due to scale....
we'll likely see antitrust moves (if the gov changes), combined debt, integration sc--wups + power struggles over who controls which brands and divisions.