Who are the big winners and losers of the major studios today?

[The Overlord]

With Disney absorbing Fox, essentially reducing the number of big studios from 6 to 5, who do you think are the big winners and losers in the modern studio system? I think we are seeing the emergence of giant entertainment companies, with Disney absorbing Fox, Comcast buying Universal and AT&T buying Warner Brothers, these 3 have seriously deep pockets. It seems Sony Pictures and especially Paramount are the weaker studios at this point, it makes wonder if Paramount/Viacom won't be bought out by a bigger company, like Apple or Amazon eventually. They seem to be in the worst straights:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/b...mentsContainer

You also have Lion Gates, I guess, they occasionally have a hit, but they have a lot of misses.

 

[psylockolussus]

Viacom is merging with CBS. So maybe Paramount Pictures would have a more interesting/stronger line up in the future?

Lionsgate would always be smaller than the big five, some hits once in a while but they don't have just the resources as big as the major film studios. Stx, United Artists, are in the same level as Lionsgate but Lionsgate has a bigger filmography/library. But Its not a major studio.

Sony Pictures, has the least interesting line up of films and without their Spider-Man license, I wouldn't have seen their recent films and trailers. There's news that CBS Viacom might acquire them? I hope that happens.

 

[Micromind]

Edit: Viacom should merge with CBS.

 

[Micromind]

Also, Netflix are amassing huge debt, its only a matter of time before some rival streaming company like Amazon buys them.

If that happens, they will become a big Studio by themselves.

 

[metaphysician]

Netflix is *already* a big studio, for all intents and purposes. And I doubt anybody is buying them, not with the anti-trust implications.

 

[psylockolussus]

Paramount should merge with CBS, that will happen if Viacom buys Paramount.

They already agreed to a merger.

CBS doesn't really have a big film division. CBS Films have few hits. So most likely Paramount Pictures would still be called as Paramount. While the merged company would have plenty of cable networks under their wing.

And I think they might want to use CBS All Access to stream the library of Paramount/MTV/Nickelodeon/BET/Comedy Central/CMT/Vh1/Logo/TV Land.

 

[Micromind]

They already agreed to a merger.

CBS doesn't really have a big film division. CBS Films have few hits. So most likely Paramount Pictures would still be called as Paramount. While the merged company would have plenty of cable networks under their wing.

And I think they might want to use CBS All Access to stream the library of Paramount/MTV/Nickelodeon/BET/Comedy Central/CMT.

Agreed. At least this buyout will ensure that all Star Trek properties will be under one company's roof (figuratively speaking, earlier, CBS had TV rights while Paramount had the movie making rights to ST.)

Plus, I hope the Viacom-CBS Execs make some changes at the top management level at Paramount, they have poorly run the Studio so far.

 

[psylockolussus]

The merger should revitalize Paramount.... and CBS + those cable networks. There's potential there for the merged company to flourish in the upcoming years.

Mergers like this is necessary especially if 1 company has been floundering for years. This reminds me of Disney acquiring Fox at the right time. So I say yes to all mergers if it saves the legacy of a floundering company.

 

[Micromind]

CBS, Viacom reunite with plans for bigger role in streaming TV wars - Reuters

(Reuters) - CBS Corp (CBS.N) and Viacom Inc (VIAB.O) have reached a deal to reunite media mogul Sumner Redstone’s U.S. entertainment empire, betting that a larger company will be able to compete and partner better in a media industry dominated by giants.

The new company will be named ViacomCBS Inc, although CBS shareholders will own 61% and Viacom shareholders will own 39%.

The merger will combine the CBS television network, CBS News, Showtime cable networks with MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and the Paramount movie studios. Together, they will own more than 140,000 TV episodes and 3,600 film titles. Annually, it is estimated to generate about $28 billion in revenue.