<
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/12/22/warner-bros-discovery-eyes-paramount-merger-because-its-last-two-disastrous-mergers-apparently-werent-disastrous-enough/>
"By now we’ve well established that this particular series of media mergers —
which began with AT&T’s doomed acquisition of Time Warner and ended with Time
Warner’s subsequent spin off and fusion with Discovery — were some of the
dumbest, most pointless “business” exercises ever conceived by man.
The idiotic saga burned through hundreds of billions in debt, saw more than
50,000 people lose their jobs, killed off numerous popular brands (like
Mad
Magazine and HBO), created oceans of animosity among creatives, and resulted
in a Max streaming service that’s arguably dumber and of notably lower quality
than when the entire expensive gambit began.
And executives at Warner Bros Discovery appear to have learned absolutely
nothing from the experience.
The
New York Times indicates that Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav is
in early talks to merge with yet another company, this time Paramount (CBS).
These mergers provide absolutely no real benefit to the broader world; they
exist exclusively so the fail upward brunchlords in charge can nab giant tax
breaks and put “savvy dealmaker” on their resumes.
But they also showcase how the executives in charge are completely out of
original ideas.
That said, the
New York Times coverage of this latest wrinkle is… not good."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
