Skydance Media is reportedly exploring the possibility of an all-cash bid to gain control of Paramount Global (PARA), specifically attempting to buy a majority stake in National Amusements which is the parent company of Paramount. With multiple changes being made at companies like Disney (DIS) and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), the media landscape may shape out to be a different beast in 2024.
Matt Belloni, Puck Entertainment Founding Partner and Journalist, joins Yahoo Finance to give insight into the current landscape of the entertainment industry and what it could look like going forward.
Belloni affirms: “We’re entering a year of retrenchment and consolidation in the entertainment industry. There’s been an incredible run up over the past decade as streaming video has challenged linear television as the dominant delivery mechanism, and when both were thriving, we had a very robust economic ecosystem for content.” He continues on to say “So, we’re seeing a huge correction in the content ecosystem in Hollywood right now.”
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Editor’s note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino
Video Transcript
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JARED BLIKRE: Skydance reportedly exploring an all-cash bid that would give it control of Paramount. The production company led by David Ellison and its investors looking to buy a majority stake in National Amusements, that is the parent company of Paramount. For more on the potential deal and the media landscape that we’re seeing in 2024, we’re turning to Matt Belloni, Puck founding partner and entertainment journalist. Thank you for joining us here today, Matt.
Let me just get your big picture view. We’ve seen media get shaken up on a periodic basis. It’s almost like a cycle. I don’t want to say you could set your watch to it, but we’ve seen a lot of people over the years. What do these latest moves signify?
MATT BELLONI: Well, I think we’re entering a year of retrenchment and consolidation in the entertainment industry there’s been. An incredible run up over the past decade as streaming video has challenged linear television as the dominant delivery mechanism. And when both were thriving, we had a very robust economic ecosystem for content.
Now, we’re seeing the linear television market really declining faster than anyone thought. And the streaming video landscape has not been profitable for any companies besides Netflix and then the tech companies that don’t really need it to be profitable, Apple and Amazon. So we’re seeing a huge correction in the content ecosystem in Hollywood right now.
JOSH LIPTON: Matt, let’s dig into a specific name here. I want to get your take on Paramount Global. I mean you’ve seen all the headlines here, Matt. Lots of headlines, lots of personalities, how do you think that shakes out, Matt, in 2024?
Is it Warner Brothers? Is it Skydance? Help us think through it.
MATT BELLONI: Yeah, I mean, 20 years ago, Viacom, the former company, was the biggest media company in the world. And slowly over the past 20 years, via the decline of the cable television universe where Viacom was heavily invested and the mismanagement of the company, the decline of its founder, Sumner Redstone, it now finds itself as the smallest and least– least advantaged of the traditional media companies.
And there are now the vultures coming out. The Ellison bid which is with Redbird Capital and Tencent, they are looking under the hood right now of Paramount. They’re about to. And they’re going to see if it’s worth making a bid.
They want to go in through National Amusements because National Amusements has 77% of the voting control of Paramount Global. So they feel that if they get control of National Amusements, then they can get control of paramount. Then they can merge it with Skydance and then they can take the studio and figure out what to do with all those declining cable television assets.
But there are others out there, too. Warner Discovery has had a talk. I don’t think that’s going to really go anywhere. Because when news of that talk leaked, the stocks of both companies suffered, meaning the market doesn’t like that deal. But there may be others out there for Paramount that we don’t know or they may just start selling parts.
