The latest on Paramount’s hostile takeover attempt for Warner Bros. Discovery; Comcast president Mike Cavanagh discusses the company’s failed pursuit of WBD; and Pete Bevacqua addresses Notre Dame being omitted from the CFP bracket. Plus news on Omaha-Overtime, ESPN, The Ringer and SiriusXM.
Paramount issues hostile bid for WBD, targets synergies
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Monday that Paramount’s $108.4 billion all-cash hostile takeover bid for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery “was entirely expected” and that the company remains “super confident” it can get a deal “across the line.” WBD acknowledged Paramount’s unsolicited offer and said it will advise shareholders with a recommendation within 10 business days.
Paramount chairman/CEO David Ellison echoed many of the comments the company made in its morning announcement during a conference call later in the day and provided new reasons as to why he believes the company’s bid is superior to that of Netflix. Ellison said that Paramount hopes to realize $6 billion in cost savings under any proposed merger, targeting areas such as back office operations, technology, and infrastructure while “maintaining the creative engines of the company.” It should be noted that Paramount has already undergone layoffs under Ellison, preceded by recent cuts under previous ownership.
The savings, he said, would facilitate the addition of more movies and television series, plus investments in sports and growth businesses. He touted the potential merger as “highly cash flow-generative,” echoing the sentiment of WBD when it initially announced plans to separate into two publicly traded companies last December for which it later secured a $17.5 billion bridge loan. That plan is scheduled to occur in Q3 2026 before the $82.7 billion Netflix transaction, which features a $59 billion unsecured bridge loan of its own.
In a CNBC interview early Monday, Ellison said that the Netflix deal would not allow for the same synergies and will ultimately leave shareholders “holding something that is not worth anything” in the ‘global networks’ business WBD plans to spin off into the new venture Discovery Global. Paramount COO/CSO Andy Gordon said on the investor call that WBD has yet to explain how debt will be allocated between the spun out companies, although WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels has previously stated that it would be fair to say that most of the debt load will sit with the global networks.
Comcast did not want to stress balance sheet amid WBD pursuit
As for the other runner up in the Warner Bros. Discovery bid, Comcast president Mike Cavanagh said at the the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference Monday that the company did not feel it had a high likelihood of prevailing with a deal it felt would befit its current operation. Comcast has not demonstrated any indications of offering a hostile bid for WBD after losing out to Netflix last week. Cavanagh added that the company did not want to stress its balance sheet, which experienced YoY declines in key consolidated results last quarter.
Cavanagh believes that Comcast’s final proposal ultimately was lighter on cash than other bids, but it contained “a significant chunk of equity in a combined entertainment company.” The publicly-traded Comcast subsidiary would have combined NBCUniversal with Warner Bros., with WBD shareholders owning “a substantial percentage.” The NBCUniversal portion of the entity would have included the NBC broadcast network, Peacock streaming platform, NBCU film studio and Universal theme parks.
“That all fit as a proposal that made sense to us, for us, in light of the fact that we like what we’re doing,” Cavanagh said. “We don’t need to do anything else. Had that come to be, I think it would have been an interesting play. It probably would have changed our streaming aspirations to be global streaming aspirations by necessity.”
A potential deal would not have, however, placed NBC Sports and TNT Sports under the same roof since Comcast was only bidding on the WBD streaming and studio assets. It should be noted that Discovery Global will hold a 20% retained stake in the streaming/studios company (Warner Bros.) that it could seek to monetize prior to the spin transaction.
Bevacqua: ACC has done ‘permanent damage’ to relationship with Notre Dame
Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said in an interview on the “Dan Patrick Show” Monday that “permanent damage” has been done to its relationship with the ACC following the school missing out on the College Football Playoff. Bevacqua noted that the ACC had repeatedly advocated for Miami over Notre Dame, even posting a side-by-side graphic on social media in early November labeling each as “Team A” and “Team B.”
While Notre Dame does not have FBS conference affiliation in college football, it is an ACC member through some of its other athletic programs. Bevacqua: “We have no gripes about any of the schools in the ACC, but we were mystified by the actions of the conference to attack their biggest, really, business partner in football and a member of their conference in 24 of our other sports.”
Bevacqua lamented the CFP weekly rankings shows, questioning what kind of signals it provides to players who believed they were “doing everything necessary.” Notre Dame had been ranked ahead of Miami in Weeks 10-14, but fell one spot behind to No. 11 overall in Week 15. CFP selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek, when asked by Chris Vannini of The Athletic about if it would be better to have fewer rankings shows, said there would always be controversy and that he did not think “having less calls is going to change that perception.”
Bevacqua told Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports that Notre Dame is guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff “if it is ranked in the top 12 starting next year.” Had the circumstance unfolded this time around, Notre Dame would have made the CFP as the final at-large team over Miami. Notre Dame ended its season on a 10-game winning streak but suffered a three-point defeat to Miami in Week 1, although that was reportedly not considered by the CFP until BYU lost to Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship game.
Plus: Omaha-Overtime, ESPN, The Ringer, SiriusXM
- Joe Tessitore and Dan Orlovsky will broadcast the Overtime Nationals High School Football Championship game on ESPN2 this Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 7 PM ET, Sports Media Watch has confirmed. Overtime and Omaha Productions are collaborating on the contest, and the winner is slated to receive a $250,000 donation for their athletic program.
- ESPN has signed MLB insider Jesse Rogers to a multiyear extension, continuing his tenure with the broadcast network as it starts a new three-year media rights deal with the league. Rogers will continue his reporting and writing work for ESPN’s website under the new deal while making select television and radio appearances as well.
- Max Kellerman and Rich Paul are debuting their new video podcast Monday, titled “Game Over,” that will start streaming on Spotify before The Ringer begins its deal with Netflix next year. In an interview with Dan Adler of Vanity Fair, Kellerman said that he would address his “First Take” tenure when asked by Paul, a topic on which he has been relatively silent amid a noncompete agreement.
- SiriusXM NBA Radio launched “Deals and Dunks” on Monday, a new weekday program hosted by Zach Harper of The Athletic. Harper will work alongside a rotating panel of co-hosts with experience working in and/or covering the league, including Amin Elhassan, Marc Stein, Chris Haynes and Ryan McDonough.
