Last February, reports leaked that Paramount+ and Peacock had started talks to merge into a single streaming service. The two sides wanted to find options to help make their streaming services profitable.
Now Paramount Global’s co-CEO George Cheeks has confirmed that Paramount is looking for streaming partners. At its annual shareholder’s meeting he said the company has received a great deal of “inbound interest” about partners with its streaming service Paramount+, according to Bloomberg. Not only are they looking for partners but also ways to cut $500 million in costs.
Exactly who is interested is unknown, but it’s speculated that Comcast is still one of them. According to the reports, Comcast and Paramount recently met to discuss options to possibly merge their respective streaming services into a single offering, among other scenarios that include a joint venture structure. This would bring Paramount’s and NBCUniversal’s content under a single streaming app.
That was followed by a report from the Hollywood Reporter that says if talks for Paramount to be sold or merged fall apart, a possible streaming deal with Peacock and Paramount+ is once again a possibility and likely Paramount’s next step. For now, the possible merger with Skydance that was reported earlier on delayed raising hope again for a possible streaming deal with Peacock.
Details are still thin. No pricing, naming, or other details have been decided at this time. And, neither company has made a formal announcement about the talks.
This all comes as Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced plans to launch a joint venture streaming service that will offer access to their sports networks without the need for cable TV.
Now it seems that a large part of Comcast’s and Paramount’s plans to merge their streaming services is not only about making both services profitable but also about fighting this new sports joint venture.
With this merged streaming service, Comcast and Paramount could have their own joint venture and take on Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
For consumers, these two newly joined streaming services could offer access to most sports that are on TV right now without the need for cable TV or even a streaming service like YouTube TV.
For Comcast, Paramount, Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery, this new streaming service could mark a massive change in how sports are distributed. They can go directly to consumers in a model that is likely to pull in millions of subscribers, which will allow them to keep all the profit and cut out the middleman.
For now, the question is would Paramount and NBCUniversal be able to reach a deal to merge their streaming services. Or will they continue to go at it alone?
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