AT&T buys Time Warner

PF9

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MGM in tandem with SGF would be great acquisitions for WarnerMedia.

MGM currently owns some lesser-known a.a.p. properties, namely a package of Monogram Pictures films sold to them in 1954 and the 1956 movie Moby Dick (the pre-1950 WB films and the Popeye cartoons are under Turner/Warner ownership). MGM merging with WB would put the entire former a.a.p. catalog under common ownership.

I also had an idea for reorganizing WB's US TV production operations after a prospective acquisition of MGM.

The Warner Bros. Network Television Group would consist of WBTV, MGM TV, and a relaunched New Line TV.

The specialty TV group would consist of Warner Horizon's scripted division, Orion TV (relaunched as a "boutique" label similar to Sony's TriStar TV and Disney's Searchlight TV), Telepictures (which inherits Orion's current syndicated output), and a relaunched Associated Artists Productions, spun off from the reality division of Warner Horizon, which would inherit WH's current reality programs.
 

AdrenalineRush1996

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MGM in tandem with SGF would be great acquisitions for WarnerMedia.

MGM currently owns some lesser-known a.a.p. properties, namely a package of Monogram Pictures films sold to them in 1954 and the 1956 movie Moby Dick (the pre-1950 WB films and the Popeye cartoons are under Turner/Warner ownership). MGM merging with WB would put the entire former a.a.p. catalog under common ownership.

I also had an idea for reorganizing WB's US TV production operations after a prospective acquisition of MGM.

The Warner Bros. Network Television Group would consist of WBTV, MGM TV, and a relaunched New Line TV.

The specialty TV group would consist of Warner Horizon's scripted division, Orion TV (relaunched as a "boutique" label similar to Sony's TriStar TV and Disney's Searchlight TV), Telepictures (which inherits Orion's current syndicated output), and a relaunched Associated Artists Productions, spun off from the reality division of Warner Horizon, which would inherit WH's current reality programs.
Let's not forget that MGM owns the Cannon film library.
 

AdrenalineRush1996

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Given the recent confirmation of a new Warner Media studio called Warner Max for the HBO Max service, according to The Hollywood Reporter, AT&T could be setting up a sibling rivalry between WB and the new studio.

 

the greenman

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Very strange news. My question is when do you think WB will either:

1. Breakup CW

2. Completely buy up what's left of MGM. They sold it off years ago, but held on to some of the aforementioned stuff like Popeye, Wizard of Oz, and I think they still have the older Bond films.

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lowell

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Very strange news. My question is when do you think WB will either:

1. Breakup CW

2. Completely buy up what's left of MGM. They sold it off years ago, but held on to some of the aforementioned stuff like Popeye, Wizard of Oz, and I think they still have the older Bond films.

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If Sony ends up buying ViacomCBS, which I still think is possible since the Redstones are currently re-synergizing it to get ready to sell it, the DOJ’s going to want them to divest something.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up divesting their 50% of the CW to WarnerMedia, allowing for them to expand their TV operations and let the relationship between HBO Max and the channel be more intertwined.

Plus, WarnerMedia would then fully own its own broadcast network, allowing for more of their shows to be brought there and not needing to license most of its shows to CBS unless they wanted to.

And they would be able to fully add retransmission fees from cable/satellite/live TV providers to their revenue then.

I’m guessing acquiring MGM with Samuel Goldwyn Films will happen once AT&T fully pays off its debt
 
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PF9

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The CW will remain a CBS/WB joint venture regardless of what happens with Viacom. The WB shut down in part because it had no O&Os, the CW wants to avoid that.

What is more plausible is that WarnerMedia acquire Univision Communications. They'll fully own two broadcast networks that way, even though they broadcast in Spanish. Neither Viacom, Disney, NBCUniversal nor Fox Corp. can acquire Univision without significant divestment of FCC-licensed properties, or in NBCU's case, because they own Telemundo. Viacom has many duopolies in markets where Univision also has them, and even in Viacom's single-station markets some have Univision duopolies. Disney doesn't own any stations beyond their ABC O&Os (yet), but many of ABC's O&O markets have Univision duopolies. Lastly, Fox Corp and Univision have many markets where both have duopolies.

So, WarnerMedia is the only major media company that can acquire Univision without running into legal trouble. I've proposed Viacom buy Azteca America and Disney Estrella Media (parent of Estrella TV), the market overlaps as far as full-power stations in those cases is much smaller.

Also, because English-language TV and Spanish-language TV are two different animals, WarnerMedia would be allowed to keep Univision, UniMas, and its 50% stake in the CW, also because WarnerMedia does not own any stations that carry CW programming.

Once MGM and SGF become part of WarnerMedia, Annapurna's stake in United Artists Releasing might be bought out. UAR gets combined with SGF to form a revamped United Artists that serves as WB's specialty/arthouse/indie division. MGM, much like New Line, becomes a secondary label for mainstream films from WB, and Orion gets relaunched as a genre films (action, horror, thriller, sci-fi and some comedy) label.
 
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lowell

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The CW will remain a CBS/WB joint venture regardless of what happens with Viacom. The WB shut down in part because it had no O&Os, the CW wants to avoid that.

What is more plausible is that WarnerMedia acquire Univision Communications. They'll fully own two broadcast networks that way, even though they broadcast in Spanish. Neither Viacom, Disney, NBCUniversal nor Fox Corp. can acquire Univision without significant divestment of FCC-licensed properties, or in NBCU's case, because they own Telemundo. Viacom has many duopolies in markets where Univision also has them, and even in Viacom's single-station markets some have Univision duopolies. Disney doesn't own any stations beyond their ABC O&Os (yet), but many of ABC's O&O markets have Univision duopolies. Lastly, Fox Corp and Univision have many markets where both have duopolies.

So, WarnerMedia is the only major media company that can acquire Univision without running into legal trouble. I've proposed Viacom buy Azteca America and Disney Estrella Media (parent of Estrella TV), the market overlaps as far as full-power stations in those cases is much smaller.

Also, because English-language TV and Spanish-language TV are two different animals, WarnerMedia would be allowed to keep Univision, UniMas, and its 50% stake in the CW, also because WarnerMedia does not own any stations that carry CW programming.

Once MGM and SGF become part of WarnerMedia, Annapurna's stake in United Artists Releasing might be bought out. UAR gets combined with SGF to form a revamped United Artists that serves as WB's specialty/arthouse/indie division. MGM, much like New Line, becomes a secondary label for mainstream films from WB, and Orion gets relaunched as a genre films (action, horror, thriller, sci-fi and some comedy) label.
ViacomCBS can probably sell those 8 owned and operated stations to WarnerMedia in that divestment but allow those stations to still operate in the same building where the CBS stations still work.

As long as WarnerMedia owns those stations, the CW can still exist.

I think Univision is about to be sold.

 

PF9

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CBS won't sell any of the CW O&O's without a really good reason. WarnerMedia wanting the CW to continue having them with the network being fully owned by them is not, I assure you, that would be having O&Os just for the sake of having them. The one most likely to be divested is WUPA, who would be traded to Cox Media Group in exchange for KIRO-TV in Seattle, giving Cox a duopoly in Atlanta and CBS one in Seattle. The only other stand-alone CW O&O, WTOG in Tampa Bay, could soon see a sister station if CBS decides to buy WTSP.

Univision could benefit greater from being acquired by WarnerMedia than any of the candidates listed in the article. It would give its properties the ability to interact with high-class media assets like HBO and Warner Bros., plus its content library could be shown in HBOmax.
 

lowell

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CBS won't sell any of the CW O&O's without a really good reason. WarnerMedia wanting the CW to continue having them with the network being fully owned by them is not, I assure you, that would be having O&Os just for the sake of having them. The one most likely to be divested is WUPA, who would be traded to Cox Media Group in exchange for KIRO-TV in Seattle, giving Cox a duopoly in Atlanta and CBS one in Seattle. The only other stand-alone CW O&O, WTOG in Tampa Bay, could soon see a sister station if CBS decides to buy WTSP.

Univision could benefit greater from being acquired by WarnerMedia than any of the candidates listed in the article. It would give its properties the ability to interact with high-class media assets like HBO and Warner Bros., plus its content library could be shown in HBOmax.
Well, CBS is not just independent as its own company anymore, it's part of ViacomCBS. And if the Redstones end up selling ViacomCBS to Sony, if it happens, the DOJ will want a divestment.

ViacomCBS divesting their 50% stake in the CW and the owned-and-operated stations to WarnerMedia would allow for extra cash for Sony to pay down its debt of buying the company.

There's more benefit for WarnerMedia to intertwine the relationship between the CW and HBO Max further than going after Univision.

If this article didn't exist, I could understand your point of view but even people know that joint venture will go in a new direction in the future, if not soon:

 

PF9

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There are lots of benefits to owning two TV stations in the same market, most English-language duopolies consist of a "Big 4" affiliate and a CW or MNT affiliate. It would be much more difficult for WarnerMedia to have duopolies in many markets that they would prospectively own stations if they buy the CW stations from CBS TV Stations, because the only stations outside CW affiliates they'd be interested in are independents and there aren't many of those to go around, and most of them are co-owned already with a Big 4 affiliate.
 

lowell

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There are lots of benefits to owning two TV stations in the same market, most English-language duopolies consist of a "Big 4" affiliate and a CW or MNT affiliate. It would be much more difficult for WarnerMedia to have duopolies in many markets that they would prospectively own stations if they buy the CW stations from CBS TV Stations, because the only stations outside CW affiliates they'd be interested in are independents and there aren't many of those to go around, and most of them are co-owned already with a Big 4 affiliate.
Do duopolies have to exist for the network to exist? I think the point you raised out orginially was that the network only needed to own its stations.

But it would make sense for WarnerMedia to own the CW if the FOX network ends up being knocked out of the Big 4 status (hearing the plan is for the network to just be fully live and unscripted content, including sports in the near future). The Big 4 would then be ABC, CBS, NBC, and the CW owned by the 4 companies still in the scripted content business.

We also have to look at how streaming is going to affect the broadcast networks down the road. The relevance of the CW in WarnerMedia's ownership would then be in production of content for HBO Max.
 

lowell

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I think Fox by now has realized going all unscripted is a bad idea, it's still having scripted series developed.
It’s short-term, from what I’ve heard. And some of the scripted series coming are still from 20th Century Television (Disney) or still licensed from another studio, however, the network now owns a small stake in them.

Heard the unscripted live push is due to the success of the Masked Singer and the sports rights that the network now has.
 

PF9

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MGM in tandem with SGF would be great acquisitions for WarnerMedia.

MGM currently owns some lesser-known a.a.p. properties, namely a package of Monogram Pictures films sold to them in 1954 and the 1956 movie Moby Dick (the pre-1950 WB films and the Popeye cartoons are under Turner/Warner ownership). MGM merging with WB would put the entire former a.a.p. catalog under common ownership.

I also had an idea for reorganizing WB's US TV production operations after a prospective acquisition of MGM.

The Warner Bros. Network Television Group would consist of WBTV, MGM TV, and a relaunched New Line TV.

The specialty TV group would consist of Warner Horizon's scripted division, Orion TV (relaunched as a "boutique" label similar to Sony's TriStar TV and Disney's Searchlight TV), Telepictures (which inherits Orion's current syndicated output), and a relaunched Associated Artists Productions, spun off from the reality division of Warner Horizon, which would inherit WH's current reality programs.

The Specialty TV Group would also include Alloy Entertainment, Blue Ribbon Content and Studio T.
 

PF9

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I think that after we've gotten past the pandemic, WarnerMedia will buy MGM and Samuel Goldwyn Films to provide more content for HBOmax, as well as enhance the Warner Bros. subsidiary.

Under this arrangement, Annapurna would transfer its ownership stake in United Artists Releasing to WB in exchange for Annapurna signing a distribution deal with WB. UAR would be folded into the main WB distribution arm.

Samuel Goldwyn Films would be rebranded as a new incarnation of United Artists, serving as WB's specialty film unit as it once did for MGM (ironically, UA used to own the pre-1950 WB library back in the day).

The MGM brand would, much like New Line Cinema, serve as an alternate mainstream movies label under WB.

Orion Pictures is refashioned as a genre films label, releasing action, horror, sci-fi, and thriller movies, and some comedies. This makes it similar to Dimension Films and Screen Gems.
 

lowell

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I think that after we've gotten past the pandemic, WarnerMedia will buy MGM and Samuel Goldwyn Films to provide more content for HBOmax, as well as enhance the Warner Bros. subsidiary.

Under this arrangement, Annapurna would transfer its ownership stake in United Artists Releasing to WB in exchange for Annapurna signing a distribution deal with WB. UAR would be folded into the main WB distribution arm.

Samuel Goldwyn Films would be rebranded as a new incarnation of United Artists, serving as WB's specialty film unit as it once did for MGM (ironically, UA used to own the pre-1950 WB library back in the day).

The MGM brand would, much like New Line Cinema, serve as an alternate mainstream movies label under WB.

Orion Pictures is refashioned as a genre films label, releasing action, horror, sci-fi, and thriller movies, and some comedies. This makes it similar to Dimension Films and Screen Gems.
I'd rather SGF be reorganized as Castle Rock Entertainment. That was still a major label back in the day that was known for the same type of films as Searchlight, Focus Features, Sony Pictures Classics, etc. were known for.

United Artists wasn't really fully a specialty film unit as it once distributed a number of the Bond films pre-MGM ownership.
 

PF9

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I'd rather SGF be reorganized as Castle Rock Entertainment. That was still a major label back in the day that was known for the same type of films as Searchlight, Focus Features, Sony Pictures Classics, etc. were known for.

United Artists wasn't really fully a specialty film unit as it once distributed a number of the Bond films pre-MGM ownership.

Castle Rock hasn't even released a movie through WB in years. WB would be better off selling the rights to the Castle Rock name (but not the library) back to Rob Reiner.
 

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