US media giant Paramount has reportedly been knocked back in its attempts to acquire rival Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), and is now said to be mulling its options.
The Deadline outlet reported this week that an offer of $24 per share was tabled by Paramount, an uplift on its supposed first bid of $20 per share.
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After rejecting Paramount’s second bid, WBD went on to confirm that it is exploring a sale, although it referred to Paramount’s attempts as “unsolicited interest”, and seemingly confirmed the presence of “multiple parties”.
This “strategic review process” could see WBD sell off individual parts of its business empire, which includes its Warner Bros Studios film and TV empire, the HBO Max streaming service – or perhaps its sports arm, which includes the major TNT Sports network.
In terms of its major rights, WBD 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 includes UK pay-TV heavyweight TNT Sports, pan-European network Eurosport, and the HBO Max OTT service.
Meanwhile, Paramount’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.
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By GlobalDataAt $24 per share, the mostly cash offer would total close to $60 billion, and would unite two of the world’s biggest media enterprises in a deal with wide-ranging implications for multiple industries.
To pass such a purchase, however, may be less simple, as there would be major antitrust concerns to contend with if the two were to merge into such a dominant rightsholder.
Larry Ellison, Paramount president, has already passed such scrutiny recently after his Skydance firm acquired Paramount earlier in 2025, a deal that was only completed a matter of weeks before the media giant went on a significant spending spree, acquiring the rights to MMA’s UFC promotion for a bumper $7.7 billion commitment.
In doing so, the broadcaster has likely ingratiated itself with US President Trump, who is strongly associated with the promotion, and who had previously (successfully) utilized the threat of antitrust action against the merger in an attempt to manipulate the internal hiring policy at Paramount.
With the potential backing of the Trump administration, Paramount may have a lever with which to bypass such concerns and actually complete the merger after all.
Comcast, the US telecommunications giant that owns media heavyweight NBCUniversal, could also be interested, especially as it boasts significant private equity backing.
Conrad Wiacek, GlobalData Sport head analyst, commented: “With WBD officially on the market following Zaslev's comments, attention naturally turns to who would be interested in purchasing the company.
“While a full sale of all assets is in play, the more likely outcome will be companies looking at purchasing assets within the business. While Paramount has made offers, the likes of Comcast and Netflix are also rumoured to be interested, with both likely to make a play for the content studios as opposed to the network side of WBD.
“With Comcast well placed in terms of its own NBC network, the play will likely be to buy assets to enhance its content offering, both in terms of movies and theme parks, but also sports content as well, with TNT assets potentially available. Buying TNT and acquiring the flagship Inside the NBA content now that NBC has NBA rights in the US could be a way to outmaneuver rival ESPN, which has a broadcast agreement to show the iconic NBA show on its network currently."
WBD, for its part, is already undergoing a major split into two publicly traded companies, separating its studios and cable businesses.
The new Streaming and Studios company will consist of Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, as well as DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max. The Global Networks creation, meanwhile, will "include premier entertainment, sports, and news television brands around the world," including TNT Sports in the US, Discovery, as well as the Discovery+ streaming service.
The separation of these two entities is expected to be complete by mid-2026, subject to final conditions such as final approval from the WBD board. David Zaslav, president and chief executive of WBD, will take those same roles in Streaming & Studios, while Gunnar Wiedenfels, the company's chief financial officer, will serve as president and chief executive for Global Networks.
Global Networks will hold a stake of up to 20% in Streaming & Studios, which it plans "to monetize in a tax-efficient manner."
WBD has said the restructuring will enable each company to "be more agile" and will also equip each to be "faster and more aggressive."
