Paramount is the frontrunner in the race to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a new report from the NY Post. What’s giving Paramount the advantage? A source for the NY Post says that Paramount is the only company to make an offer that includes CNN as part of the deal.
Paramount, Comcast, and Netflix all submitted bids by the deadline on November 20, with Comcast and Netflix showing interest in the studio and streaming side of the business, while Paramount made an offer to buy it all.
While any sale would have to go through regulatory approval, the NY Post says that Paramount will have a much easier time moving through that process. The company got FCC approval for its merger with Skydance after settling a a $16 million lawsuit with President Trump over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election, and making a promise to commit to to “unbiased journalism” by airing news and entertainment programming across the political spectrum. Post-sale, Paramount put Bari Weiss of The Free Press in charge of news.
Now, CNN could be getting the CBS News treatment. If Paramount succeeds in acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN would likely also be put under Weiss’ management and made more Trump administration-friendly. Knowing that, Paramount owners are likely to quickly be given the greenlight in the regulatory approval process while Netflix and Comcast, the NY Post points out, would not.
Comcast owns left-leaning news network MSNBC, which CEO Brian Roberts is spinning off, along with other networks including CNBC and USA, into a new entity called Versant. Netflix leaders Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos have been known to support left-leaning causes. Those ties might work against both companies with this administration, on top of Comcast and Netflix only showing interest in half of the Warner Bros. Discovery business.