Paramount has jumped in to try and hijack Netflix's takeover of the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) media and entertainment giant, with an offer of $108 billion.
This comes with content streaming heavyweight Netflix having won an auction to take over the film and TV studios of WBD last week, through an offer of $72 billion.
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Now, however, Paramount has attempted to come in over the top with an offer worth $36 billion more for the entirety of WBD. The submission values the media group at $30-per-share.
Paramount's previous bid, tabled in October, was for $24-per-share, and was referred to by WBD as "unsolicited interest."
Paramount – headed up by billionaire David Ellison – has said, in a statement released today: "Despite Paramount submitting six proposals over the course of 12 weeks, WBD never engaged meaningfully with these proposals, which we believe deliver the best outcome for WBD shareholders."
It added: "Paramount has now taken its offer directly to WBD shareholders and its board of directors to ensure they have the opportunity to pursue this clearly superior alternative."
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By GlobalDataParamount’s CBS Sports network holds rights to several major properties, including European club soccer’s UEFA Champions League, American football’s NFL, PGA Tour golf, and top-tier college sports. In 2024, it aired the most-watched NFL Super Bowl in history.
The Financial Times publication, meanwhile, has cited a source close to WBD as saying (regarding why the offer from Netflix was chosen): "The board’s overriding priority more than valuation was choosing a bidder that could sign immediately, withstand regulatory scrutiny, and close on the terms required."
The Netflix-WBD deal, if it goes through, will see the specific film and TV divisions of WBD come under Netflix ownership as soon as the Discovery Global arm, which contains the TNT sports channels in the Americas, is separated.
WarnerMedia (as was) first combined with Discovery in 2022, with that agreement worth $43 billion.
In terms of its major rights, WBD in the US has a domestic rights stable that includes the French Open tennis grand slam, Major League Baseball, college football, and ice hockey’s NHL, as well as an expansive international portfolio that also includes the HBO Max over-the-top service.
Netflix, meanwhile, has been getting more and more involved in the live-streaming of sport over recent years, and now holds rights to top-tier properties from sports such as American football, baseball, boxing, tennis, and soccer (through the acquisition of FIFA Women's World Cup rights in the US for the next two editions).
In terms of reaction to the announcement of the Netflix-WBD deal, over the weekend, US President Trump said that Netflix "has a big market share," and that its combination with WBD, therefore, "could be a problem."
Larry Ellison, the billionaire grandfather of David, is seen as a close Trump ally. His Skydance firm acquired Paramount earlier in 2025.
