Embattled Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount International CEO Bob Bakish in New York Metropolis on Tuesday (December nineteenth) to debate a possible merger, as first reported by Axios.
The assembly reportedly occurred at Paramount’s Instances Sq. headquarters, the place the duo spoke about how the businesses could possibly be an excellent match for one another. As a chief instance, merging their respective streaming companies — Max and Paramount+ — would create a formidable competitor to Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video.
It’s at present unknown whether or not WBD would purchase Paramount International or vice versa, however Axios stories that “each choices are on the desk” and WBD has already employed bankers to look into the deal.
In line with Axios, Zaslav has additionally spoken with Shari Redstone, an proprietor of Paramount’s mother or father firm Nationwide Amusements, a few attainable deal.
Zaslav’s tenure as the pinnacle of Warner Bros. Discovery has actually been eventful. Since Summer season 2022, he has famously canceled an already-finished Batgirl movie, shelved Recreation of Thrones spinoffs, and yanked titles from the streaming service previously generally known as HBO Max — solely to later open up licensing of HBO originals to rivals equivalent to Netflix.
In the meantime, Paramount+ formally merged with Showtime earlier this 12 months.
