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Proposed Paramount Acquisition: What No One Is Talking About
Paramount studios lot entrance.
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Topline:
As the negotiations for David Ellison’s Skydance Media to acquire Paramount Global move into a more serious phase, some underexplored issues around what Ellison is buying — and the implications of the deal — emerge.
Why it matters: Paramount has long been one of Hollywood’s major studios, and employs more than 20,000 people. But it possesses a significant number of declining assets in its linear cable networks and CBS broadcast network. These make up 55% of its 2023 revenues. Its investments in streaming, which now comprise 23% of its business, have yet to make up for the declines in its legacy businesses.
What we know: Ellison, with backing from his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, are reportedly pursuing a complicated deal to acquire Shari Redstone’s control of National Amusements (the Redstone family’s theater business) leading ultimately to them having the primary financial interest in Paramount.
What we need to know: What are the Ellisons going to do with all those old cable channels? CBS has the very valuable NFL rights until 2033, but how much interest is there in the rest of the network, including its news division? Is Larry Ellison only helping to bankroll the deal to boost the fortunes of Oracle’s lagging cloud-computing business? What does that then mean for any aspect of Paramount that can’t migrate to the cloud?
For more . . . read the full story on The Ankler.
This story is published in partnership with The Ankler, a paid subscription publication about the entertainment industry.
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