In line with mega-mergers that have come before, the impending marriage of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery will lead to a media company packed with assets. What differentiates this deal — which is now in the clear to move forward — from others is the sheer amount of brands and intellectual property in play.
David Ellison’s newly merged entity will house a mountain of content, given that Paramount (which was acquired last year by Skydance Media) and Warner Bros. (which was bought by Discovery) have already doubled up their respective lineups of TV shows, movies, streamers and networks. Ellison told employees Monday he expects the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger to close in about two weeks following the settlement of the 12-state antitrust lawsuit that sought to block the deal. The programming list alone is a monster to contend with, spanning Harry Potter (which is about to be revived with a new HBO series) and “Game of Thrones” at Warner Bros.
Discovery and Paramount’s “Yellowstone” universe and Nickelodeon empire. But then there are also the streaming services (HBO Max and Paramount+), linear networks (e.g., HGTV and CBS), news organizations (CNN and CBS News) and other entities, like video game studios, to account for. See below for a list of combined Paramount-Warner Bros.
Discovery assets set to be owned by the merged company. Paramount Television Studios (including MTV Entertainment Studios) Magnolia Network (joint venture with Chip and Joanna Gaines) Paramount Games Studio (made up of combined Skydance New Media and Skydance Interactive) Pictured above (clockwise from top left): Food Network’s “Tournament of Champions”; Paramount+’s “Dutton Ranch”; HBO’s “Harry Potter”; Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants”
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