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Sports, legacy media deals disrupted by last-minute curveballs
The Paramount logo is displayed at Columbia Square along Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Calif. on March 9, 2023.
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Patrick T. Fallon
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AFP via Getty Images
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Topline:
Two major pieces of news this week — the sports streaming joint venture Venu being temporarily blocked by a judge and Edgar Bronfman, Jr. bidding on Paramount — disrupt reinvention plans for several of the major entertainment companies.
Why it matters: Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox co-own Venu, and their plans to make it easier for sports fans to avoid linear TV has been made more difficult, as the injunction delays their just weeks-away launch. Paramount, meanwhile, had reached an agreement with David Ellison’s consortium to acquire the legendary studio, but just before the deadline for last-minute bids, former Warner Music Group CEO and Seagrams heir Edgar Bronfman, Jr. made an offer. At the very least, the move will delay regulatory approval for Ellison, if not change who the future owner of the company is.
Will Venu survive? As younger audiences shift away from linear and toward streaming, Venu was an attempt to meet the audience where it’s at and do so in a way that brought together a package of different sports. But the combination of three different major sports media rights holders constituted an antitrust violation in the eyes of a judge, who sided with the streamer Fubo, which had filed a lawsuit to enjoin Venu. Should Venu collapse, Disney/ESPN might actually be the beneficiary, as its forthcoming ESPN streaming service would then be able to market itself as the first streaming destination for sports fans.
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What’s going to happen at Paramount: Bronfman’s offer is reportedly worth $4.3 billion. The numbers are similar to Skydance’s proposal, except Skydance would also be integrating an outside production company and inputting a new management team, which Bronfman hasn’t suggested he’d do yet.
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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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
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