This is the one thing I don't understand - Paramount's lot is bigger, better location, and nicer. Selling Culver City would make more sense. (Amazon/MGM reunion with the lot!)
NYT: Paramount has decided to formally open negotiations with Sony and Apollo
- Thread starter GK86
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This is the one thing I don't understand - Paramount's lot is bigger, better location, and nicer. Selling Culver City would make more sense. (Amazon/MGM reunion with the lot!)
Man, as nightmarish as this whole thing is, it's also darkly hilarious that despite all of Sony's ambitions they still look at Paramount Plus and go "fucking nope, that's a money sink."
Seriously, what do they really want to keep out of a 26 billion deal. Really are trying to raid the company for just a few assets huh?
A lot of that IP is owned by CBS, plus from an earlier report they wanted to pick and choose certain IPs out of nickelodeon, which is also probably a regulatory issue. Just a mess of a strategy.
Edit: I will also add by selling that property, I don't see how Sony is not going to move back on annual movie releases of the two studios.
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Maybe they'll expand their current lot, although I'm not sure what money they'll use after this purchase.
Seems like the strategy is pay a lot of money now, take all the valuable IP, and then try to make the money back in a firesale.
Yeah, it's a strategy that probably won't get past regulators, as the potential to devalue the Paramount assets is very plausible and would just strengthen the largest players more.
It is currently owned by CBS but I have no doubt they already have worked out with Apollo who gets what if this goes through. Apollo seems most interested in the channels themselves.
We saw something similar when Fox sold to Disney, Fox kept some IP, such as Hell's Kitchen, and sold a fuckton more.
Also they likely plan to either do more animation related stuff, for which they wouldn't need the bigger lot, or a lot more shooting on specialized lots that'll give them tax breaks to be there like Disney uses London, Atlanta, etc.
For the love of... I know the shows themselves don't do crossovers often, but there is value in keeping the Nick IPs together in games, and other things. It's like just picking and choosing Nintendo IPs. People like seeing the gang together sometimes.
Although if they do plan to do this, I would hope this means they're smart enough to keep Avatar Studios in tact.
Apollo can't own them all as it would breach the ownership cap as they already own channels. Like I said earlier, whole thing is a mess that is a massive regulatory minefield.
It is a non starter to possibly do anything to devalue Nickelodeon as it just gives Disney a monopoly in kids media. They'd be forced to own it all or sell it all. Just makes Sony supposed plans to not make much sense to just go after IPs.
Well that's good that they can't separate it at least.
Yeah it seems like Sony is not really thinking some of this through. No wonder the Sony investors are worried about this.
I think Skydance needs to leak a little bit more of their plans. Especially regarding Nick. I need to know they're at least understanding of the importance to the film studio. Because that continues to be a massive question mark for me.
I guess...still would take the Paramount lot.
I think SPE is also building a new huge lot in Las Vegas, so that probably factors into it.
I don't think that's the case. This would be the second approach by Sony to acquire Paramount assets since the merger of Viacom and CBS.
I think the problem is that the structure that Apollo/Sony are pursuing haven't been revealed and fully fleshed out, so we're getting bits and pieces of it via these leaks. I'm sure the actual bid will be more coherent.
I stated it earlier but I don't think this is a serious bid but more of a prevention one. I think Sony wants no one to buy Paramount so theyd be forced to sell or license assets. Current bid is just a regulatory nightmare plus a massive amount of leveraging up to just secure IP.
True, good point.
I feel like the Skydance deal would be more likely to happen than straight up fire sale honestly. Other than selling Showtime and lower value pieces.
It does if you intend on increasing production capabilities. Warner has two lots, one of which they're expanding with more soundstages.
Be prepared honestly no matter which way this goes (including Paramount just sticking it out on their own) for assets to be sold off.
There's no way to avoid things getting split off. It's just a question of which option leads to the least amount lost.
I blame cable but it shouldn't be that hard to shut down channels and move it to streaming platforms.
I don't think it's as easy a fix as you're making it out to be.
Yeah, I was voicing it out of stupidity. This is a terrible position that paramount is in as an entity.
...huh. To be ran by ghouls or to be ran by motherfucking ghouls.
From my understanding, a lot of productions are leaving LA and California for states that are more generous with their tax credits (Utah, funnily enough, being an example). Sony acquiring a second lot to ramp up their own productions doesn't make a lot of sense.
So many Trek fans on the net think Star Trek is in a horrible place right now, Sony will make them think Scott Bakula Enterprise was the golden age of Trek.
For sure. I probably should've clarified Warners lot is in Leavesden, UK and also acts as a studio tour for HP. Not really a fair comparison considering it's cheaper to shoot in the UK compared to the US for the most part as well. It probably would benefit Sony to sell the lot and lease it for themselves as part of the deal.
why?
as annoyed as I was with Sony raising the prices of Psplus last year, what are the chances they do some sort of Paramount Plus / PlayStation Plus bundle and add a new, even more expensive tier?
Sony's TV division is like, the best in the business outside of HBO though? The did Breaking Bad, The Crown, The Boys, For All Mankind, and a ton of other stuff. Star Trek TV would actually be in pretty decent hands.
The movies would be a bigger toss up.
Numerous outlets - including Puck - believe that Warner Bros may try to take advantage of this Paramount / Sony deal.
Puck believes Warner Bros is eyeing CBS. They're playing the waiting game to see what the fallout is from this Sony deal.
https://puck.news/how-david-zaslav-could-benefit-from-paramount-mess/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...-nasdaq-wbd-be-the-winner-of-a-paramount-deal
If Sony acquires Paramount, Sony will likely sell CBS to a competitor.
It doesn't make sense for Disney to buy CBS because they already own ABC.
It doesn't make sense for Comcast to buy CBS because they already own NBC.
Why Warner Bros wants CBS:
Puck believes Warner Bros is eyeing CBS. They're playing the waiting game to see what the fallout is from this Sony deal.
https://puck.news/how-david-zaslav-could-benefit-from-paramount-mess/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...-nasdaq-wbd-be-the-winner-of-a-paramount-deal
If Sony acquires Paramount, Sony will likely sell CBS to a competitor.
It doesn't make sense for Disney to buy CBS because they already own ABC.
It doesn't make sense for Comcast to buy CBS because they already own NBC.
Why Warner Bros wants CBS:
- According to Puck, Zaslav would love to buy CBS, so he can combine CBS News with CNN.
- By owning CBS, Warner Bros would have a larger share of the sports market (example: NFL games on CBS, like the Super Bowl)
- CBS is the highest rated network. More people watch CBS than any other channel.
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If CBS goes to WB, what exactly does Apollo get out of this deal, assuming Sony wants to keep Paramount IPs.
Zaslav would easily trade NBA rights for NFL rights. Especially considering what the NBA is asking.
Financing for Sony by selling back their share down the road was a possibility.
… if WB Discovery buys CBS, wouldn't it make more sense for WBD to spin off CNN? I think regulators would have something to say about that, especially if WBD would look at rolling CBS News into CNN.
They might merge the 2 in the dumbest way.
Also Redstone was so adamant that she didn't want the buyer to split up Paramount/CBS and Sony/Apollo if they get it will do it anyways
I have no knowledge on American networks, but if CBS is popular, why would Sony not want it ?
Foreign owners are not allowed to own/hold licenses on one of the major US broadcasting networks. There is an exemption that they could pursue but Sony will likely sell.
Also Sony seems to only want the I.Ps and not some cable network
I think it would be wild if Sony doesn't at least keep Nick (which is looking like they might not). Maybe its the fanboy in me but I'd assume that the Sponge and even TMNT would be worth something. Its not like Paramount has some crazy big IPs besides Star Trek and I'd argue that Mission Impossible and Top Gun are a mixed bag because they are just too attached to Tom Cruise, without him I don't think they have a lot of value.
Honestly looking at Paramount's box office list, I'm honestly not sure what Sony is looking for, especially for future plans.
Honestly looking at Paramount's box office list, I'm honestly not sure what Sony is looking for, especially for future plans.
Is media consumption really getting difficult to develop, market, and sold? The consolidation of these big corporations have really began to be concerning. It started with Disney's buying spree then Microsoft, now Sony. Fuck consolidation.
It's a combination of things. One of the biggest is the shift towards IP in the last 15-20 years in entertainment due to the economic recession and entertainment markets reaching saturation. Companies focus on producing shows and movies that are seen as marketable properties. Disney and WB have by far the biggest warchest of iconic IPs (in part because of Disney's constant acquisitions) which leaves a lot of these other studios struggling.
And then generally speaking audiences have more entertainment options than ever (many of them relatively free or cheap thanks to the internet) which makes it very competitive since audiences only have so much free time. 40 years ago the primary entertainment mediums were print, radio, television, and film. Now with the internet, computers, phones, video games, etc. it's exploded massively past that. There's so much being made and not enough people engaging in it.
Paramount does have some recognizable and iconic IPs but it's simply not enough to be competitive in this environment, and the government has completely failed to intervene with any meaningful regulation.
Paramount and WB's problem isn't the relative weakness of their IP, its that for 25 years they were guaranteed steady profits from the cable bundle and now that's going away. Disney and Comcast have outside revenue streams that allow them to manage this transition better. What sort of regulation would prevent Netflix, which only has one product, from dominating streaming and giving customer a much cheaper alternative to cable?
Regulations could prevent several of these mergers and acquisitions (especially on the gaming side of things, which is what the person I was quoting was also discussing). One of the biggest issues is studios using private equity to buoy their finances:
Of course, none of this will happen because the United States government has never functioned as anything but a front for this country's richest people and groups. But it's what happens when this sort of financial behavior is left unchecked.
None of that changes the fact that since 2000 or so, cable has been by far the most profitable part of every entertainment companies business. And now thats going away. These companies either need to launch a profitable streamer to replace that money, become much smaller, or merge with someone else. And private equity hasn't had any major impact on the expansion of Netflix and the other streamers which is a much bigger problem than corporate debt.