Welcome (Possibly) A New Multimedia Empire/Overlord (Part Deux): Sony In Talks To Buy Paramount

In a slight shocker of a move, Sony Pictures appears to be in talks to buy a commanding share of Paramount with the assistance of an American asset management firm named Apollo Global Management. The joint bid by Sony Pictures and Apollo doesn't have a hard price tag as of now, but Apollo previously placed $26 billion offer for Paramount without the help of Sony and before offered a $11 billion bid for film division and studio lots. As a result, there's some speculation that Apollo is the one that approached Sony Pictures and not the other way around as the previous most likely candidate to buy Paramount was Skydance, but its offer is bound to fail to close before the end of the month. As such, Apollo's supposed join bid is a final attempt to drive up the price of Paramount Global in hopes Skydance ducks out.

There is one complication when it comes to seeing the Sony logo on CBS and Parmount+ properties. Because Parmount and CBS are considered "traditional media," the are Federal Communications Commission rules that greatly restrict foreign ownership of broadcast TV stations. For Sony's end of the bargain, they likely are not going to inherit any of CBS and Paramount Global's television presence, which would be required to be managed by Apollo, and would exclusively gain ownership on the Paramount+ and film side of the business.

Now, if you are itching to ask about the previous one of these I posted a while back about Warner Bros. Discovery in talks to buy Paramount, then your memory is better than most. Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav was definitely exploring a merger with Paramount, but the talks ceased after Warner Bros. Discovery experienced a stock drop to a new 52-week low. Some industry insiders have pointed to Zaslav's shedding of assets and properties under Warner Bros. Discovery's portfolio being the primary driver of this stock drop. On the other hand, Paramount and CBS have been in a perpetual downward trend since the passing of Sumner Redstone, who's passing sparked a vicious corporate tug-of-war between his children for his media empire, ViacomCBS.

In the end, Paramount+ is bound to get subsumed into a different streaming service that is not YouTube or Netflix and worldwide media appears destined for less competition. Also, with the Halo TV series being a Paramount property, it sure would be funny living in a timeline where a PS5 copy of Call of Duty emblazons the Microsoft logo and a Halo property the Sony logo.

Dear god I didn't think it would be possible to make Star Trek worse these days, but: Star Trek as made by Sony Pictures? Yeah that would do it.

How is this a new empire? Sony is already a media empire.

Obviously this wouldn’t be a great thing but it’s hard to see how it would really change stuff from a consumer perspective beyond the perpetual less competition equals less variety and higher prices cycle we’re all stuck in.

Sony Pictures, outside of Spider-Man, has largely been coasting as a brand as Universal, Warner Bros., and Disney have become the titans of the film industry. They have, however, put growing interest in releasing their films and TV shows across multiple streaming platforms. Most Sony titles began streaming on Disney+ two years ago and they even have agreements with Disney to have Sony Pictures Animation works and even Crunchyroll licensed titles float on Hulu and other sites. If this deal goes through, and it is not a guarantee it does, the likelihood that this openness is re-examined is all but guaranteed.

@zombiepie: I mean yes, big deals have big implications, but my point is more that this is not a NEW empire. Sony also owns Sony music and PlayStation, so even if their film brand has been a little less active (though it has been putting out movies) it's definitely already a media empire.

As for Sony titles shifting around between streaming services...sure...if it goes through stuff will change on that level but this is just further empire consolidation, not a new one being born. And on a consumer level these changes are incremental, just like prior consolidations.

They're bad for consumers overall, but each individual one is not a seismic shift.

Not surprised by this. Paramount just wasn't doing that great in the streaming biz. Many of their original shows ended up leaving and going to other streaming platforms, with only Halo to hang on to. Maybe Sony will give them a boost. But this is where all things are going. Soon, only a few mega corps will control everything about our lives.

If this does happen, one benefit might be PS Plus subscribers being able to access the Paramount library. One can hope. I'd check out the Halo series, but I'm not getting Paramount as it is to do so.