\n
<\/p>\n
An $81 billion Warner-Paramount\u00a0mega merger<\/a>\u00a0has received shareholders\u2019 stamp of approval, propelling a deal that could vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape closer to the finish line.<\/p>\n Per a preliminary vote count on Thursday, the overwhelming majority of Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted in support of selling the entire business to Paramount for $31 a share, the company said. Including debt, the deal is valued at nearly $111 billion.<\/p>\n Skydance-owned<\/a> Paramount wants to buy all of Warner. That means HBO Max, cult-favorite titles like \u201cHarry Potter\u201d and even CNN<\/a> could soon find themselves under the same roof with CBS, \u201cTop Gun\u201d and the Paramount+ streaming service. A greenlight from company shareholders increases the likelihood of that becoming a reality.<\/p>\n But it’s not a done deal quite yet. The acquisition still faces ongoing regulatory reviews<\/a>. Warner has said it expects to close sometime in the third fiscal quarter.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Warner shareholders rejected a separate measure Thursday that outlined post-merger payments for company executives.<\/p>\n Paramount\u2019s quest for Warner has been far from smooth sailing. And while Warner’s board now endorses the Paramount merger, it wasn\u2019t always eager to enter this particular marriage.<\/p>\n Late last year, Warner rebuffed Paramount\u2019s overtures to instead strike a $72 billion studio and streaming deal<\/a> with Netflix. Paramount, meanwhile, went directly to shareholders with a hostile bid<\/a> to take over the whole company, including the cable business that Netflix did not want.<\/p>\n All three companies spent months fighting publicly over who had the better offer on the table. Warner\u2019s board repeatedly backed<\/a> Netflix\u2019s bid. But eventually, Paramount offered more money<\/a> and Netflix abruptly bowed out<\/a> of the race rather than prolonging the fight.<\/p>\n That corporate drama may now be over, but the implications remain. Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have voiced \u201cunequivocal opposition\u201d to the deal, in a letter<\/a> arguing that further consolidation will lead to job losses and fewer choices for filmmakers and movie goers.<\/p>\n Jane Fonda\u2019s Committee for the First Amendment called Warner shareholders’ vote to advance the merger a \u201cserious setback\u201d on Thursday \u2014 but maintained the \u201cfight is far from over.\u201d In a statement, the advocacy group pointed to past efforts to challenge consolidation and maintained \u201ca handful of powerful decision-makers should not be allowed to quietly reshape American media, culture, and creative life without accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n Some lawmakers have also sounded the alarm. In a \u201cspotlight\u201d hearing on the merger held in Washington last week, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker said that \u201cnot just a corporate deal\u201d was at stake \u2014 \u201cbut who controls news, who controls entertainment, who controls storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n The merger would bring together two of Hollywood\u2019s remaining five legacy studios. It would also join two major streaming platforms \u2014 Paramount+ and HBO Max \u2014 and two big names in America’s TV news landscape \u2014 CBS and CNN<\/a> \u2014 as well as a heap of other brands and entertainment networks.<\/p>\n Company executives argue this will be good news for consumers, who they say will have access to bigger content libraries, particularly if HBO Max and Paramount+ become one streaming service. And Paramount CEO David Ellison has tried to assure filmmakers<\/a> with a 45-day theatrical window guarantee and goal to release 30 movies a year between Paramount and Warner, which he’s said will remain stand-alone operations<\/a> under a combined company.<\/p>\n \u201cI love cinema and I love film,\u201d Ellison said at CinemaCon<\/a> last week. “You can count on our complete commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n But the new owner will also be looking to cut costs. Regulatory filings have already indicated that would include layoffs and downsizing some overlapping operations. And critics are skeptical about consumer benefits \u2014 warning of higher prices that could arise when it comes to streaming, and potentially less diversity in content down the road.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the news. Since\u00a0coming under Skydance ownership<\/a>\u00a0less than a year ago, Paramount-owned CBS has already seen significant editorial shifts, notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as\u00a0CBS News editor-in-chief<\/a>. If the Warner takeover goes through, many are expecting\u00a0similar changes at CNN<\/a>, which has long\u00a0attracted ire from President Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other questions of political influence have piled up. The Justice Department and company leadership have maintained politics will not play a role in the regulatory process \u2014 but Trump himself has publicly waded into<\/a> Warner\u2019s future at times, despite backpedaling on what he once suggested his personal role would be. Trump also has a close relationship with the Ellison family, particularly billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who is putting billions of dollars on the table<\/a> to back the bid for his son\u2019s company.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Paramount has secured money from several sovereign investment funds \u2014 including Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund, as well as funds from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, per regulatory filings<\/a>. But such investors will not have voting rights in a future Paramount-Warner combo, the filings noted. Paramount has not publicly specified how much they\u2019re contributing.<\/p>\n Other countries, including European regulators, are looking the deal \u2014 and states could try to challenge it, too. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been particularly vocal about the transaction, and said his state is investigating it.<\/p>\n Shares of Paramount slid more than 4% on the results of the vote Thursday, and Warner Bros. slipped as well.<\/p>\n