CNN’s Jake Tapper reported the troubling news Thursday that Netflix has dropped its bid to acquire the network’s parent company, effectively handing CNN over to the MAGA-friendly owners of Paramount.
Chief executive David Ellison, the son of billionaire Larry Ellison, has been leading a revamp of CBS News to appeal to conservative viewers, and now he’s expected to do the same at the network Donald Trump hates most.
exist leaderTapper, 56, introduced the topic by noting that it “affects everyone I see in the studio right now.”
“According to the board of directors of Warner Bros. Discovery Channel, Paramount has submitted a superior offer. As I noted, Warner Bros. Discovery Channel is the parent company of CNN,” said Tapper, who has been with the network since 2012.
CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter, who has been with the network since 2013 (except for a two-year period), weighed in afterward.
“In this corporate tug-of-war, Netflix seems to have suddenly let go of the rope,” he said.
“Of course, a lot can still happen here,” he continued, citing regulatory hurdles, “but the big news this afternoon is that Paramount is suddenly in a much better position to take over CNN and the rest of Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes HBO and Warner Bros. Movie Studios and all of its other properties.”
Netflix’s concession comes two days after Paramount raised its bid from $30 to $31 a share. While Netflix’s bid was just to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service and movie studio, Paramount is pursuing everything.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said on Thursday that the bidding war had increased the group’s value eightfold.
He added that the company has “increased 63% in value to date compared to the first offer received in September, delivering significant value to WBD shareholders throughout the process,” CNN reported.
“Our focus has always been on maximizing value and certainty while mitigating downside risk,” he continued. “The board will evaluate any proposal against that criteria, with the goal of delivering the best deal for our shareholders.”
The review process for Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery will take several months, CNN reports.
In a statement before Netflix withdrew from the competition, Ellison said: “We are pleased that the WBD board of directors has unanimously affirmed the superior value of our offer, which delivers superior value, certainty and speed to completion for WBD shareholders.”
