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Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros

cnbc.com

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Re: Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros

#171

Post by ternus »

hinkley wrote: post #160
bsimpson wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"What's left"? New Line has been part of Warner since they merged with TBS in the mid 90s.

No, Newline was its own division of WB, but during the financial bubble bursting, and shortly after Golden Compass lost $100M they gutted it and drastically reduced their scope of operations. It's still technically its own division but now it's more of a sock puppet. The Hobbit for instance is a WB production, not Newline. Apparently sometime shortly before they got the axe they paid Susanna Clarke a 7 figure sum to…

The BBC Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell miniseries is excellent. One of those times (others might include the original LOTR films and early Game of Thrones) where a genre adaptation wildly exceeded my expectations.

Re: Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros

#172

Post by cwillu »

hopelite wrote: post #169
dabockster wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The failed merger and similar clawback clause between Kroger and Albertsons is currently destroying a significant part of the supply chain for food in the Pacific Northwest. Grocery stores that have been open for 50-75 years - stores where whole neighborhoods and towns were built around - are closing forever, leaving those areas as food deserts. Either way, this entertainment merger is going to get ugly. Consumers ar…

I’m not sure it’s a fair comparison, groceries that sell food on one hand and a brainwashing and propaganda delivery system (see History of criminal, industry/advertiser, FBI, CIA, Pentagon, and foreign nation direct ties to the industry) masquerading as “entertainment” on the other. You don’t have to be “harmed”, just do not pay them your money. Problem solved. If the prospect of not being “entertained” fills you wi…

The machine works in the aggregate, and so does the harm. Lets not pretend that all will be well if I just avoid the propoganda myself.

Re: Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros

#173

Post by ClikeX »

thisisnotauser wrote: post #167
dabockster wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The failed merger and similar clawback clause between Kroger and Albertsons is currently destroying a significant part of the supply chain for food in the Pacific Northwest. Grocery stores that have been open for 50-75 years - stores where whole neighborhoods and towns were built around - are closing forever, leaving those areas as food deserts. Either way, this entertainment merger is going to get ugly. Consumers ar…

Except you need food to live and tv shows are an artificially scarce resource that's actually free to distribute in unlimited quantities, so the harm is very different.

Real people work in this industry, though. A merger of this size is bound to come with some layoffs and canceled projects.

It's not as bad as food scarcity, of course. But it can do some collateral damage.

Re: Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros

#175

Post by actionfromafar »

kenjackson wrote: post #159
KumaBear wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a shitty gamble when online media is where it is at now a days. These big media networks are dinosaurs hanging on by a thread.

It might be. But if you're doing a short-term political power play (rather than a business investment), it could be a good tactical spend. And it might be a smart business investment if the political power play works in such way that you can politically bend the business environment in your favor.

And a cheap spend if you can scrounge the money in some roundabout way from Uncle Sam.

Re: Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros

#176

Post by actionfromafar »

NickC25 wrote: post #154
notepad0x90 wrote: post #143

I just realized that the netflix ceo is a big-time democratic party donor, and that paramount is supposedly being supported by larry ellison (big-time republican/trump donor) and saudis? I'm sensing a strong political/influence angle here by the billionaires.

>supposedly My man, you don't have to mince words here. This hostile bid is backed by Jared Kushner, who is the President's son in law. One Rich Asshole owns Paramount, and is most certainly supporting the bid here. This deal would also leave CNN in a very vulnerable position (they are owned by WB), which is exactly what Trump wants.

Strong ”I am the State” vibes.

Re: Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros

#177

Post by dabockster »

ClikeX wrote: post #173
thisisnotauser wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except you need food to live and tv shows are an artificially scarce resource that's actually free to distribute in unlimited quantities, so the harm is very different.

Real people work in this industry, though. A merger of this size is bound to come with some layoffs and canceled projects. It's not as bad as food scarcity, of course. But it can do some collateral damage.

That, plus fewer studios mean less creativity goes to the mainstream. If you thought AI slop was bad, go re-watch Star Wars Episode 8.

Re: Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros

#179

Post by actionfromafar »

Levitz wrote: post #64
staplers wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

we'll see meaningful copyright reform and sanity in our lifetime. That seems wildly naive... gestures broadly at world

The rest of the world is the one thing that gives me hope in this regard, really. It feels like year by year, Asia, even China, is becoming more and more culturally relevant. Western media is just too damn stagnant. Hollywood used to be known as possibly the most important cultural powerhouse history has seen. It might still be that, but it certainly doesn't feel like it anymore. Or maybe I'm just getting old.

China rising should not comfort anyone except Xi. They are all about raw power.

Re: Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros

#180

Post by hinkley »

ternus wrote: post #171
hinkley wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, Newline was its own division of WB, but during the financial bubble bursting, and shortly after Golden Compass lost $100M they gutted it and drastically reduced their scope of operations. It's still technically its own division but now it's more of a sock puppet. The Hobbit for instance is a WB production, not Newline. Apparently sometime shortly before they got the axe they paid Susanna Clarke a 7 figure sum to…

The BBC Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell miniseries is excellent . One of those times (others might include the original LOTR films and early Game of Thrones) where a genre adaptation wildly exceeded my expectations.

Yeah I'm pretty glad Newline biffed that one since we got this instead.

Also Clarke has a chronic illness, which is preventing her from trying for another book of that caliber. That mountain of cash is probably keeping her very comfortable.

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