What if Disney Had Purchased Warner Bros.?

[Silverstar]

For those who don't know, in 2016 The Mouse House attempted to buy Warner Bros., but they didn't succeed; AT&T ended buying WarnerMedia instead, but what if they had succeeded? Provided the FCC and Congress wouldn't just block this due to antitrust laws, that would mean that Disney would, in addition to the many, many properties and franchises they already own, have the following in their possession:

• Looney Tunes
• Hanna-Barbera
• Cartoon Network/[adult swim]
• DC
• HBO
• HBO Max
• TBS
• TNT
• TruTV
• CNN
• The Harry Potter movies
• Game of Thrones
• The Wizard of Oz
• Warner Bros. World indoor theme park

How would the face of media be different? Would this be a good thing, a bad thing or a worse thing? Discuss.

 

[Johntoonfan05]

Honestly that would be a Bad Thing it would lead to a Competition between the Two Studios.

 

[Goldstar!]

Honestly that would be a Bad Thing it would lead to a Competition between the Two Studios.

If you mean between Disney and Warner Bros., they wouldn't be competing with one another because they would be a combined unit. Their combined IPs would all be under one umbrella. That would be the opposite of competition. It would be a synergy.

No, it would be bad because then Disney would have a monopoly on the entertainment industry. Disney would own both Marvel and DC. And assuming that in this hypothetical scenario that Disney would still have purchased Fox Entertainment, the Mouse House would own those IPs also. Smaller, independent studios have a hard enough time competing with Disney and Warner Media separately, if the 2 studios were to join forces, smaller companies would struggle to get anything seen by the general public. It would be a win for the fans, but it wouldn't be good for businesses at all. No single studio should have that much power.

What would happen to the theme parks? Would this mean that we'd suddenly start seeing Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Scooby Doo doing meet and greets at the Disney Parks? And what would happen to Warner Brothers World in Dubai and Abu Dhabi?

Would Disney just keep the Disney Channel and Cartoon Network running alongside one another, or would they merge both channels into a one super channel? On a similar vein, would Disney add a Cartoon Network and Looney Tunes window to Disney Plus, or would they just keep both Disney+ and HBO Max separate and offer both streaming services together in a bundle? Although, HBO Max being part of the Disney Bundle would admittedly be kind of sweet.

In any case, I prefer the Looney Tunes as being friendly rivals to Disney rather than them being owned by Disney, but at least the Mouse House treats their IP fairly well. Competition is better for businesses than a monopoly. Two good things that would come from Disney purchasing WB would be a) we could finally have that Mickey and Friends/Looney Tunes crossover show that fans have been wanting to see for years, and b) this would mean that there would have been no AT&T purchase nor a Discovery merger.

 

[Silverstar]

^^Agreed, a Disney/Warner merger would be a monopoly and monopolies are bad for business, however there'd be a certain irony to the idea of Disney owning Hanna-Barbera. Walt and the Nine Old Men despised HB back in the day; Disney considered Hanna-Barbera to be the purveyors of cheap, limited animation, and likely it was because of the prominence of HB on Saturday morning TV that Disney avoided Saturday morning like the Plague until Michael Eisner took over as CEO.

 

[Otakuninja2006]

What I do know is that none of these shows would have been written off(Final Space) nor cancelled/removed(Driftwood, OK KO, Summer Camp Island)...

 

[LinusFan303]

I think it would have been a bad thing, like most of the mergers I think are a bad idea.

If I was playing regulator I would have laughed them out of the room and make them pay a fee just for wasting my time.

If I can play regulator since this didn't happen... here's what I would have made Disney do to get Warner.

If there was an agreement, here's what I think would be the right thing if they wanted to merge. The Entire CNN media would have to be sold off, Disney already has ABC News and therefore, their owning CNN would be too much media concentration. They'd have to find a buyer. Turner Sports, and the sports rights, they wouldn't be allowed to transfer any sports rights that Turner had to ESPN, and no personalities being poached, and they'd have to sell of Turner Sports to someone else, since they have ESPN. (Or they'd have to same things I said but with ESPN sale off , both ways, I'm calling the "No Jimmy, you can't have both toys, you have pick one rule)

Disney would not be allowed to own Warner Bros. Television syndication, or they'd have to sell of their television syndication division either way, a divestment would have to be done. They would have to sell Cartoon Network/Boomerang , Cartoon Network Studios because they have Disney Channels and Disney Television Animation. Now they could keep Adult Swim, might have to move it to Tru TV, and still be allowed to make deals with Cartoon Network Studios/ Williams Street for Adult Swim content, but again NO ownership of CN Studios.

They would have to divest DC or Marvel , they CAN'T own both. (Even though that might kill the idea of cross over films, oh well) They can't take any DC properties they'd want or Marvel properties, a sale would mean every IP would be sold to the new buyer.

At the time, Warner owned 10% of Hulu, that 10% would have be split between the other owners at the time, Disney, FOX, and Comcast, Disney doesn't get the full 10%.

Warner Bros. Animation would also have to be divested, it's too much concentration of media and feels anti-trust, that or Disney would have to sell their animation unit, and I think they'd rather keep their properties over Warner stuff, but they can't own both.

Disney would also have to work with indie film and TV companies, and smaller companies to help distribute their content in a way to help the reducing of scale, buying Warner would cause. Disney would only be allowed 10% of any content deals with these indie companies.

Disney would have to allow Warner content to still be run on other services and channels, and sale rights at fair market prices, this is to continue the status quo and market freedom. That's what I think would be the acceptable way a Disney buying Warner should have been allowed, otherwise I think it would it a big anti-trust mess and causes an unfair market place.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Well, had they bought WB, then we could've seen the return of DC and Marvel crossovers but honestly, I'm glad that this acquisition never happened though still, WB shouldn't have been bought by AT&T in the first place that led to a lot of troubles that has continued to this day even after the Warner Media-Discovery merger five months ago, given the tax write-offs.

 

[TsWade2]

I'm afraid it's not going to happen anytime soon. Sorry!

 

[ShadowBeast]

The Warner write-offs most likely would never have happened.

 

[JMTV]

That would be a funny joke, but if it was for real, no. That would be so cursed.

 

[Moe]

It means Disney would be a biggest animation studio in the world, and they own most of cartoon shorts in market share and own most of superhero comics as well.

The federal regulator is likely to let Disney slips as long as Disney spin CNN, HLN and Tuner Sports off since they care about sports and news, not cartoons nor superhero.

Zaslav's write-offs most likely would never have happened.

Indeed, I just fixed a small part - replace with Zaslav because he is one that made a decision about tax write-off.

I'm afraid it's not going to happen anytime soon. Sorry!

OP was ask about what happened after Disney bought and own WB.

However, we all know that Disney buys WB isn't going to happen at all.

I'm gratefully that Disney doesn't own WB.

 

[harry580]

well, its be a monopoly of epic positions

 

[stephane dumas]

Disney and Warner merged, that would be like attempting to merge Ford and General Motors...

 

[ShadowBlinky]

^^Agreed, a Disney/Warner merger would be a monopoly and monopolies are bad for business, however there'd be a certain irony to the idea of Disney owning Hanna-Barbera. Walt and the Nine Old Men despised HB back in the day; Disney considered Hanna-Barbera to be the purveyors of cheap, limited animation, and likely it was because of the prominence of HB on Saturday morning TV that Disney avoided Saturday morning like the Plague until Michael Eisner took over as CEO.

HB also got artists from them.

 

[Zanneck]

At BEST: WB wouldn't be getting thrown under the bus like they are, right now. Especially their beloved animation (not just CN/Boomerang fare, neither.).

At WORST (1): We'd have a highly maligned & unacceptable monopoly on our hands and no public domain possibilities, ever, to truly save these properties from getting shelved, simply because $$$$$.

At WORST (2): Disney would treat WB worse than Zaslav is, because WB is competition, or at least it was meant to be (not so sure under that fool Zaslav anymore!), for Disney, at the end of the day.

 

[Roxas_Sora]

Disney would have always failed to buy Warner, mainly because it's the only company capable of competing with it. And for each move of Disney, Warner has a counterpart.

+ Disney has Marvel, Warner has DC.
+ Disney has Mickey Mouse, Warner has Bugs Bunny.
+ Disney has Pixar, Warner has Hanna Barbera.

They are equally matched.

 

[Stumpos]

Disney would have always failed to buy Warner, mainly because it's the only company capable of competing with it. And for each move of Disney, Warner has a counterpart.

+ Disney has Marvel, Warner has DC.
+ Disney has Mickey Mouse, Warner has Bugs Bunny.
+ Disney has Pixar, Warner has Hanna Barbera.

They are equally matched.

Hanna Barbara closed down back in 2001 though after William Hanna's passing.

 

[Goldstar!]

Hanna Barbara closed down back in 2001 though after William Hanna's passing.

And H-B was absorbed into Warner Brothers two years prior.

 

[Moe]

@LinusFan303 for federal regulator, please and bye, bye to crazy acquisition, that all I say, lol.

WB and Disney are very inconsistent at best.

 

[TEOL85]

Look at Disney Plus the you'll know what it means. We are currently moaning that it doesn't give us extra it doesn't give us the full 20s to 20s experience of mainland Disney yet alone it's Star brand of all the others which they keep up and downing to other services.

And the fact $30 or more in the US to get the actual Disney Plus you are paying for due to having Plus, Hotstar, Hulu and ESPN.

Ok, Discovery isn't much better because as WBD they brought out BT Sport's and it's the same independent run from each other and they had not changed it so that full Sky Sports pack gets BT Sport's in SD for free when Eurosport already does and they supposed to have merged with Eurosport.