For the most part, I truly do envy those that are fortunate enough to still be working in positions of importance in media. Considering where I am at this particular moment, that envy escalates greatly. There’s only so much impact and pleasure one can get from what I do, and lately even those sporadic moments of joy are fewer and farther between.
On the other hand, I might not want to be a Warner Brothers Discovery executive with any direct line to corporate management, especially the top dog we have “affectionately” labeled Yosemite Zas, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be one with any oversight of CNN. The next few days are pretty much guaranteed to be hectic and potentially pure hell.
When Ted Sarandos, Greg Peters and David Zaslav joined forces like the Superfriends to stroll the Burbank lot shortly before Christmas in the wake of what was at the time assumed to be Netflix’s successful bid for the studio the likelihood of what transpired this past week was minimal at best. But when the jilted lover in this triangle happens to be as much of a whiny nepobaby as the current leader of the free world there’s simply no assurance that any independent decision that goes in another direction will be able to take root.
So when the shortened holiday week began it kicked off with this latest salvo as covered by the ASSOCIATED PRESS’ Michelle Chapman and Wyatte Grantham-Philips:
Warner Bros. Discovery is briefly reopening takeover talks with Skydance-owned Paramount to hear the company’s “best and final” offer, while the Hollywood giant continues to back the studio and streaming deal it struck with Netflix.
In a Tuesday regulatory filing, Warner said it had received a waiver from Netflix to reopen talks with Paramount for the next seven days, or until Monday. Warner said this will allow the companies to discuss unresolved “deficiencies” and “clarify certain terms” of Paramount’s latest bid.
You almost can’t blame Zas and team for at least willing to open their ears when they’ve been getting the kind of obsessive attention that came down hand-in-hand on Tuesday, which DEADLINE’s veteran expert on all things media and politics Ted Johnson “exclusively” reported:
Paramount CEO David Ellison warned in a letter that Netflix‘s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. would “extinguish” competition, while he argued that his company’s ownership of WBD would mean a boost to streaming and theatrical distribution…Ellison wrote that a Netflix-WB combination would be a “fundamental threat to fair competition in the entertainment industry. If permitted to proceed, the deal would consolidate an unprecedented degree of market power in the hands of a single dominant company.
“I firmly believe that this proposed merger with Netflix would not advance competition, but rather extinguish it. In contrast, my own company’s alternative proposed combination with Warner Bros. Discovery would enhance competition and provide meaningful benefits — more choice and competitive prices — to American consumers,” Ellison wrote.
The letter was sent to New Jersey senator Cory Booker, clearly miffed that Ellison stood him and his colleagues up at the beginning of the month when they convened some hearings to address what they say are their main concerns. Sarandos did grace the chambers with his presence. details of which were also delved into by Johnson:
In his testimony, Sarandos was challenged on a number of fronts from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. He argued that YouTube’s dominance could not be discounted given the shift in viewing habits. “About 50% of the engagement on YouTube today happens in the living room on a TV, not on … a mobile service, and growing very fast on television,” Sarandos said. “So if you’re watching YouTube, you’re not watching HBO Max, you’re not watching Netflix, you’re not watching CBS.” He pointed to YouTube’s recent purchase of the rights to the Oscars, long a signature event on traditional broadcast TV.
To his credit, Ellison also elected to use some skewed research to make his counterpoint:
“This argument is not credible,” Ellison wrote, adding that Netflix and its subscription rivals operate “on a fundamentally different business model than free, user-generated platforms.” He wrote that among the top 500 programs on YouTube, “there is little-to-no overlap in terms of content that is also available on Netflix.”
“If regulators were to accept Netflix’s expansive market definition, it would effectively end any meaningful antitrust enforcement in the media and technology sectors,” Ellison wrote. “Every social media platform could claim to compete with every media service, and no transaction would ever raise concerns regardless of how concentrated a market actually became.”
If it were all only that simple. We know, of course, this is ultimately all about money and control. And the core differences between the Netflix and Paramount proposals are rooted in both.
On the money front, it’s still a game of chicken, as the AP duo reported:
Warner’s board is still recommending shareholders support of its proposed merger with Netflix…In a statement, Netflix said it was confident that its proposed transaction “provides superior value and certainty” — but recognized “the ongoing distraction for WBD stockholders and the broader entertainment industry caused by PSKY’s antics.”…Warner’s leadership similarly reiterated its support for the Netflix deal.
But as long as Netflix steadfastly refuses to include the WBD cable networks, including CNN, in its bid it isn’t addressing the one thing that Ellison’s friends are most invested in. And as TV REV’s Alan Wolk reported in his subscriber newsletter this morning, that plot line is thickening:
This past week’s shenanigans included an activist investor firm called Ancora that seems to have some ties to Trumpdom making noise about forcing Warner to consider Paramount’s offer…Followed by a piece in Washington Monthly by noted reporter Jonathan Alter who reported that “[F]rom what I’ve heard from very good sources, the Justice Department will announce what Republican senators have already hinted at, which is that they will block a merger with Netflix on antitrust grounds.”
All the more reason why Booker and buddies are already getting their air bags ready, as VARIETY’s Todd Spangler reported yesterday:
A group of eight Democratic U.S. senators sent a letter to David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance, asking that he “preserve all records related to the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery transaction” — and demanding answers about how his company has interacted with President Trump and the White House in its hostile takeover bid of WBD. The letter was sent to Ellison by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.). The full text of the letter is at this link.
All of this and more is weighing on the minds of the WBD negotiators who will likely be working through the weekend to listen to Ellison’s siren’s song. With the imminent threat of a war breaking out to boot. THE INDEPENDENT’s Rachel Vickers-Price sounded that alarm:
Donald Trump could imminently authorise an attack on Iran, with the US military potentially ready to strike as early as this weekend, according to sources close to the American leader…As the strain between the US and the Middle Eastern country intensifies, a source in Trump’s circle disclosed to CNN that the 47th US president might approve an attack by the weekend, The Mirror reports…The White House has been informed that the military could be prepared for action by the weekend, additional sources told CNN.
When your fighting forces are under the esteemed stewardship of someone whose resume highlight was a contributor to weekend news network programming, that particular timing takes on heightened levels of possibility. And THE TIMES OF ISRAEL’s Lazar Berman, among others, seem to think this could become long-form content:
A military confrontation between the US and Iran could begin in the coming days and be an intensive, multi-week campaign, sources said Wednesday, despite ongoing diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran. Former IDF Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin suggested Wednesday that such a confrontation could be imminent. “Last week I allowed myself to fly to the Munich Security Conference. I would think twice about flying [abroad from Israel] this weekend,” Yadlin told Channel 12 news on Wednesday, a day after a second round of nuclear talks was held in Geneva.
It’s in situations like this that CNN has historically become more watched and relevant, beginning with the outbreak of the first Gulf War that forever reversed the perception the acronym stood for Chicken Noodle News. It sounds like they’re already putting in for overtime. But with the spectre of a Bari Weiss-led CBS News and the internal push to its own 24/7 streaming platform out there the expectations and decisions as to how they choose to cover whatever unfolds will likely be under even more of a microscope–particularly among the “lab techs” they answer into who will be in a room with Ellison et al while he may have a direct line to perhaps the most engaged and opinionated viewer of all.
What a great opportunity for CNN and WBD to be shown up in the court of opinion that matters most. It might even negate the need to call out Booker for potentially having any bias merely because Netflix is constructing a massive studio complex in his state’s tony Montclair suburb that could help create Los Gatos East. It might even negate to some degree the need for pere Ellison to strongarm a few Board of Peace members to help sweeten his “best and final offer”.
Sure, it’s complicated. Sure, it’s political. Sure, it’s tension-filled and anxiety-inducing. One can argue there are way better ways to spend a weekend in February. I really don’t envy those that are could be dealing with all of this and then some.
But having felt the intense adrenalin rush from less crucial but still exhilirating situations in the past, there’s still a part of me that wishes I’d at least be on call.
Until next time…