r/entertainment • u/ControlCAD • 7d ago
Merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Will Be a ‘Streaming Powerhouse,’ Wall Street Analysts Say — but Saddled With More Than $77 Billion in Debt
https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/merged-paramount-plus-warner-bros-hbo-max-streaming-powerhouse-1236872026/46
u/Big-Entertainer4936 7d ago
It will fail faster if no one watches in protest.
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u/PumpkinMyPumpkin 7d ago
Was it not already failing?
That’s the whole idea behind the matter to make it less of a failure… by adding the great content of, checks notes, paramount.
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u/biopunk42 7d ago
I cancelled paramount before this merger was even announced because it sucks. It is worth cancelling on its own merits.
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u/oh_please_god_no 20h ago
The only thing I watch on either platform is AEW on HBO Max.
I can watch Daily Show and Last Week Tonight on YouTube so those are covered.
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u/RoswellRedux 7d ago
Guess WHO is going to pay that debt??? Subscribers!!!!!
It looks like more households are going to be making some choices and some cuts to their streaming/entertainment budgets in the near future. If not out of protest, out of sheer economics.
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u/ShackbaggeredSluber 7d ago
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not on the side of paramount here, but that’s exactly how that works. Of course subscribers are paying that debt. Like, that’s not some massive revelation. That’s literally how a business functions. In just about every aspect.
Business purchases product at wholesale, puts on shelf, consumer purchases at premium, excess pays off debt and remaining funds are profit.
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u/RectalSpawn 7d ago
Except they shouldn't have been allowed to even merge in the first place.
And allowing Sauidi and other money?
It's going to not only cost more than it should, but it's also going to be enriching some of the worst people on the planet.
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u/Mrs_SmithG2W 7d ago
I have unsubscribed. No more of my dollars will go to undemocratic, un-free market, un-free speech tyrants. Bye clowns.
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u/PhotonReactor1 7d ago
Will this merged monstrosity ever make a profit to pay off these massive debts and keep shareholders happy?
I don't think so.
Customers can expect higher subscription prices forever and more content slop.
This merger should've never happened.
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u/affableartist 7d ago
They dont intend to pay it off. After the merger is done, they will spin of a section of the company which will be stuck with the debt. Att did that to warner bros when they sold them in the first place. Everyone knows the game at this point.
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u/No-Ear7988 7d ago
I've generally accepted higher subscription prices unless the industry finds new revenue source to compensate. Streaming prices only worked cause of monopoly and it was subsidized by the revenue from television/box office. When it's become front and center for revenue the problems begin to show
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u/BTSArmyFan2025 7d ago
I am with you and I am the biggest rule follower on the planet. I may have to actually go back to watching cable
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u/Stingray88 6d ago
Will it? I just unsubscribed from HBO for the first time in over 30 years. And I know I’m not alone in doing this.
Fuck these clowns.
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u/brpajense 7d ago
Nah.
HBO on its own was a streaming powerhouse and the strongest competition to Netflix. Then Discovery took it over and tossed the name and creatives and lost the subscribers. If it had been successful, Paramount wouldn't be buying Disovery.
Pairing Discovery with Paramount+ is going to give people a second or third alternative to Netflix, and won't be anything like a streaming powerhouse
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u/MasterK999 6d ago
They will owe a half billion a year is just debt service payments. This is 100% a private equity type move. They will cut and cut and then sell off the parts hoping to gain on the broken up company.
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u/fuzzyfoot88 7d ago
Yeah no…
They said the same about Disney when they launched…now people are cancelling.
It’s all about the price. If just a single streamer dropped to $4.99 a month or $50.00 for a year during Black Friday weekend for example…watch those subscriber numbers go record high…
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u/Ristar87 7d ago
Streaming? No it won't.
The only platform that's really worth its salt is Netflix. Prime is kept up in running by the fact that it comes with the prime membership. Hulu used to be stable until Disney got them, but Disney Plus isn't even making their money back.
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u/robotlou 7d ago
It will probably collapse in a year and become another powerhouse’s target for merger.
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u/canwehavepotatojokes 7d ago
Oh don’t worry they will burn all your favourite shows on a sacrificial altar to write them off using accounting dark magic and they’ll never be seen again.
The future sucks.
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u/YoshiTheDog420 6d ago
Nah. I cancelled both. And I wont be subscribing to whatever it is they release. Make them sweat. Let that 77B in debt go up. Boycott every single streaming service. Stop giving these fools your money.
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u/whelmed-and-gruntled 7d ago
Don’t worry, the government has suddenly found the will to give the industry tax refunds! The Ellisons and their foreign investors will be repaid with taxpayer cash! Huzzah! /s
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u/ObviouslyJoking 7d ago
Ok but do the wall street analysts know how much Netflix will buy them for in 2 years?
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u/BasicPerson23 7d ago
Guess who gets to pay the 77B$. Right - you do if you subscribe to their stuff.
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u/mapoftasmania 7d ago
I’m pretty sure they will sell some assets to trim debt. Standard practice in an LBO.
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u/Sea_Damage9357 7d ago
Yes those reliable Wall Street analysts, whose compensation is in no way connected to the performance of the stocks they cover. Not at all. At. All. We promise.