wb logoImage via Warner Bros.
By
Collier Jennings
Published 40 minutes ago
Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with a substantial amount of experience under his belt. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. Using his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's been able to tackle a wide variety of articles.
Sign in to your Collider account
Summary
Generate a summary of this story
follow
Follow
followed
Followed
Like
Like
Thread
Log in
Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents:
Try something different:
Show me the facts
Explain it like I’m 5
Give me a lighthearted recap
Hollywood's witnessing one of the biggest studio battles in history, as Warner Bros. is caught in the middle of a bidding war between Netflix and Paramount. Netflix appeared to have made the winning offer, yet Paramount recently countered with a hostile bid and a marketing campaign trumpeting itself as the best bet for a new "golden age" in Hollywood. Whoever wins would radically reshape the entertainment landscape. Paramount would be the biggest studio in the game, while Netflix would have plenty of franchises to bolster its streaming library. According to an expert, this battle could get even more complicated.
Kay Koplovitz, the founder of the USA Network, recently sat down with Yahoo! Finance to discuss who had the upper hand in the Netflix/Paramount battle. During the discussion, Koplovitz revealed that she believes more bidders will come to challenge Netflix and Paramount for ownership of Warner Bros. "I don't think it's just Netflix and Paramount," she said. "I believe other companies are going to be in the mix." The reason why other companies would enter the game lies in an asset that Netflix and Paramount are overlooking: the cable companies.
Warner Bros.'s Cable Companies Could Be Key to Its Sale
Image via CNN, Warner Bros.
Both Netflix and Paramount have made one thing clear: whichever company buys Warner Bros. is solely aiming for the movie arm of the business. The cable networks, including CNN and TNT, will be under a separate umbrella. Further complicating matters is that President Donald Trump insists that CNNbe under new ownership (and new leadership, but that's another can of worms). Kay Koplovitz, among others, has pointed out that the cable networks have far more value than Netflix or Paramount has considered. One executive even told Deadline Hollywood as much:
"It’s not fashionable to say there is upside potential in these networks, but they don’t all just go to zero. There are enough things, especially news and sports, keeping them vital so there is a reason to not just abandon them altogether."
Cable often proves to be a vital arm of marketing movies or another product that a studio is selling. Most Disney-owned networks, like FX and ABC, usually feature marketing for Disney+ along with sneak peeks at upcoming movies — Jimmy Kimmel Live!'s frequently been host to trailers for Marvel and Star Wars films in the past. Netflix and Paramount would be foolish to pass up that kind of programming, and it looks like another studio might be gunning for Warner Bros.'s portfolio in its entirety.
Related
Hollywood Is Begging Congress To Block Netflix’s WB Deal — but Can It?
This could rapidly change things.
Posts By Amanda M. CastroAnother Major Studio Looks Like It's Gearing Up to Buy Warner Bros.
On Monday, Comcast — the company that owns Universal Pictures — announced it had sold Versant, a company that bundles all of its cable networks. Some pundits have effectively noted that this could put Comcast in the running to buy all of Warner Bros.' assets. Not only would this put another major studio under Comcast's umbrella, but if it acquires Discovery's cable networks, it could have plenty of television shows and a new way to advertise its movies. Comcast actually did attempt to make a bid, but president Mike Cavanagh said that Comcast was "light on cash" compared to Netflix and Paramount: "We didn’t expect that we had a high likelihood of prevailing with a deal that made sense to us."
Despite Cavanagh's claim that Comcast didn't have enough cash to purchase Warner Bros., the sale of Versant could have changed the situation. With the Netflix sale still up in the air, and Warner Bros. having a deadline to respond to Paramount's hostile bid, it's possible that Comcast could come in with a new offer for all of Warner Bros.'s assets and walk away as the winner of the bidding war. It doesn't hurt that there's apparently bad blood between Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav and Paramount CEO David Ellison (over South Park, of all things), meaning that the Warner Bros. bidding war isn't over yet.
Warner Bros. Expand Collapse-
Netflix
We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.
Be the first to post Images Attachment(s) Please respect our community guidelines. No links, inappropriate language, or spam.Your comment has not been saved
Send confirmation emailThis thread is open for discussion.
Be the first to post your thoughts.
- Terms
- Privacy
- Feedback
The 5 Biggest Problems With Netflix’s Warner Bros. Acquisition
The 7 Most Universally Loved Movies of All Time, Ranked
The 25 Greatest Movie Masterpieces of All Time, Ranked
10 Great Movie Trilogies Where Every Film Is a Masterpiece
What To Watch
July 20, 2025
The 72 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now
Trending Now
'Interview With the Vampire's New Easy-To-Binge Spin-Off Is Officially a Hit on Netflix
New Sonic the Hedgehog Spin-Off Movie Sets Release Date 1 Year After ‘Sonic 4’
Netflix’s ‘Narnia’ Movie Is “Going To Change the World,” Says IMAX CEO
