I don’t want to post on this at length but I did want to make a couple of observations. Although it needs to pass regulatory scrutiny to be a “done deal”, now that Netflix has dropped out Paramount seems poised to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery.
In my opinion that has a number of implications. The first is for Warner Brothers itself. The acquisition increases the likelihood that Warners, which has produced some of the best Hollywood movies, will continue to exist as a movie studio. IMO Netflix would have mined WB as a content library and phased the studio out of existence.
Now consider the properties the combined enterprise will hold. In addition to the extensive libraries of Paramount and WB there are:
News and broadcast: CBS, CNN, and their respective networks
Entertainment: HBO, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, TCM, BET, and Showtime
Lifestyle and unscripted: Discovery Channel, Food Network, TLC, and Animal Planet
Streaming platforms: Max, Paramount+, Pluto TV, Discovery+
Sports rights: NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, UFC, NCAA March Madness, Big 10 and Big 12 football, the Olympics, UEFA Champions
Here’s the question: where does that leave Apple? Since its inception in 2019 to a subscriber base of about 45 million. It appears to have, roughly, plateaued there.
As of the acquisition there are a handful of major streaming services including Disney, Netflix, and Amazon.
As I see it Apple has a business decision to make. It can subsidize Apple TV indefinitely from hardware sales. But can it grow in a crowded field of giants?
