Paramount: New Questions And The Old Merger

 While the last-minute counter bid for Paramount Global has been withdrawn, leaving the proposed merger with Skydance Media (almost) guaranteed, plenty of challenges remain for the beleaguered Hollywood stalwart. Brandon Blake, our entertainment lawyer in the know from Blake & Wang P.A., has another update on Paramount’s turbulent journey to new ownership. Particularly, what this will mean for the Paramount+ platform.

 

                                              Brandon Blake

The Streaming Question

While Paramount+ has achieved a small profit in the direct-to-consumer unit and is projected to reach profitability for the full fiscal year 2025, the company is still exploring strategic options for the 68-million-subscriber service.

Potential partners have reportedly expressed interest in joint streaming ventures. Skydance Media, now poised to acquire Paramount, remains optimistic about Paramount+’s long-term prospects but seems reluctant to discuss Paramount’s streaming future. However, Jeff Shell, currently slated to take over the day-to-day management of the upcoming merged Skydance-Paramount entity, seems keen on the idea of bundling in the streaming platform’s future.

A Merge Ahead?

Many industry experts also view Paramount+ as a prime candidate for a fully merged, jointly operated service. This move could address their financial constraints and create a more user-friendly experience for existing subscribers. However, merging streaming platforms presents a host of technological and rights-related challenges. Regulatory hurdles may also complicate joint ventures, as we saw in the recent court ruling against Venu Sports.

However, there is space in the streaming world for what is being termed a “true” bundle. Not the forced bundling we’ve seen from entities like Max and Disney+/Hulu, where users are still compelled to use separate apps to access each service, nor the “in-house” vertical bundling we’ve seen so far, but a single, condensed app with a more consumer-friendly focus. Paramount+ is the largest streaming service to pull this off internally, with the combination of Showmax and Paramount+ launched earlier this year, and it may give them some wiggle room to carve out a unique space in the current streaming landscape.

Regardless of the way forward, the Redstone family is now set to cede control of Paramount to Skydance in 2025, with an $8 billion investment planned for the two-step transaction. At this point, we are all waiting to see the deal close problem-free in a decidedly turbulent M&A merger for the group.

 

 

 

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