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+--- Thread: ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks (/showthread.php?tid=319)
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - BcastCornwall - 16-05-2021
AT&T is nearing a deal to combine its content unit Warner Media with rival Discovery to create a media giant with an enterprise value of $150bn, just a few years after acquiring the owner of CNN, HBO and Warner Bros, said people briefed about the matter.
The board of directors of AT&T were meeting on Sunday to approve the deal, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The agreed deal is expected to be announced in the coming days, those people said.
The combination would merge one of Hollywood’s most valuable catalogues — spanning the Warner Bros film and television studios, the HBO network and a portfolio of cable channels including CNN — with Discovery, which has had success with a new streaming service aimed at unscripted cooking and home renovation shows.
After years of watching Netflix dominate the streaming landscape, the world’s largest media and tech companies have sought to fight back with their own services. In the past year and a half, Disney, Apple, WarnerMedia, Comcast, Discovery and others have launched streaming platforms as they battle for a piece of the future of entertainment.
The structure of the deal remains unclear but AT&T, which has a market value of about $230bn, is expected to control most of the combined entity. Discovery has a market value of $24bn.
AT&T’s decision to merge its content division with Discovery comes five years after it agreed to take over Time Warner for $85.4bn as the telecom company looked to transform itself into the world’s largest vertically integrated content and distribution company.
In 2019, AT&T chief executive John Stankey and Discovery chief David Zaslav discussed combining their programming into a single streaming service for about $8 a month (excluding HBO). But when Disney revealed it would offer up its massive trove of Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel and Disney classics for only $7 a month for Disney Plus, they scrapped the plan. Instead, Stankey combined HBO with the rest of WarnerMedia’s programming into one product, which was named HBO Max.
Bloomberg first reported news of the talks between AT&T and Discovery. AT&T and Discovery declined to comment.
[mod]Link to article: https://www.ft.com/content/5aeba5f9-2e00-4cba-b9c7-e0431aad798b[/mod]
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - moonygiiiuls - 16-05-2021
I think it's too early to think about it, but I feel that if WarnerMedia and Discovery do this fusion, there could be some conflict of interest here in Italy with the FTA channels. Here, WarnerMedia half owns Boing and Cartoonito in a joint venture with Mediaset, Discovery owns K2 and Frisbee. I don't think both groups of channels would be able to survive under the same roof.
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - XIII - 16-05-2021
WarnerMedia and Discovery merging would be an interesting prospect since there is no real crossover with the WarnerMedia properties and the Discovery properties.
Would the new company be Warner Discovery or Discovery Warner?
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - BcastCornwall - 16-05-2021
A reminder that this will put CNN and GBN in the same organisation.
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - Brekkie - 16-05-2021
BcastCornwall post_id=12848 time=1621187579 user_id=950 Wrote:A reminder that this will put CNN and GBN in the same organisation.And people dismiss the importance of media pluraility.
I suspect a key motivation is strengthening the streaming offering. Despite both their reputations and library of content I think both HBO Max and Discovery+ have got off to a relatively slow start in the increasingly crowded market, but a combined offering would have much wider appeal I imagine.
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - Omnipresent - 16-05-2021
It was inevitable that there'd be consolidation in the streaming market. The US market cannot sustain all of Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Discovery+, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock etc.
Like any deal, the details and quality of execution will be key. HBO lost many people, including Richard Plepler, after AT&T acquired Time Warner.
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - XIII - 16-05-2021
I would imagine Discovery+ will remain as it is rather than be folded into HBO Max, perhaps they'll be bundled together similar to how Disney bundle Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - RegularCapital - 16-05-2021
So far AT&T (WarnerMedia's parent) have:
Sold their cellular masts to lease them back
Sold 30% of DirecTV by spinning the company off
Sold off their 50% stake in Central European Media Enterprises
Sold off Chilevision to ViacomCBS
Sold off Crunchyroll (pending)
Selling Rooster Teeth
So all of the debt management and asset sell-offs at AT&T was a pointless exercise after all just to merge with Discovery, I know most of it will be issued as shares, but there's an often a very hefty cash transaction.
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - Inspector Sands - 17-05-2021
BcastCornwall post_id=12848 time=1621187579 user_id=950 Wrote:A reminder that this will put CNN and GBN in the same organisation.Not really, Discovery are one of the shareholders in the company that owns GB News but that doesn't make it part of the same organisation.
Liberty Media have a stake in GBN too, but that doesmt mean its part of Virgin Media (although that's being sold too soon)
However it might affect the future of GBN. What will the new owners of Discovery do, if anything, to their stake in GBN?
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - FrancisC - 17-05-2021
Confirmed...
https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1394249028636905473?s=21
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - London Lite - 17-05-2021
AP also reporting on the merger.
https://apnews.com/article/media-technology-arts-and-entertainment-business-d7259d1e50f24f12de3edcf9fb7ee33a?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter
Hopefully for UK viewers, CNN will be on Discovery+.
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - Omnipresent - 17-05-2021
Here are the official announcements and presentations:
https://investors.att.com/~/media/Files/A/ATT-IR/press-release/press-release-17052021.pdf
Quote:Dallas, TX and New York, NY – May 17, 2021. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) today announced a definitive agreement to combine WarnerMedia’s premium entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery's leading nonfiction and international entertainment and sports businesses to create a premier, standalone global entertainment company.
Under the terms of the agreement, which is structured as an all-stock, Reverse Morris Trust transaction, AT&T would receive $43 billion (subject to adjustment) in a combination of cash, debt securities, and WarnerMedia’s retention of certain debt, and AT&T’s shareholders would receive stock representing 71% of the new company; Discovery shareholders would own 29% of the new company. The Boards of Directors of both AT&T and Discovery have approved the transaction.
https://investors.att.com/~/media/Files/A/ATT-IR/events-and-presentations/att-investor-meeting-presentation-17052021.pdf
Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav will lead the new company.
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - Mouseboy33 - 17-05-2021
Well does anyone know if the CEO or some other bigwig at Discovery made a personal investment in GB News or did Discovery as company itself make the investment? If someone can clarify, that would be appreciated. Because there is a distinct difference. Thanks
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - Kunst - 17-05-2021
I feel like Sky will be hit hard by this
ATT's Warner Media and Discovery in merger talks - valley - 17-05-2021
Kunst post_id=12954 time=1621253505 user_id=1292 Wrote:I feel like Sky will be hit hard by thisI don't see why it would.