Sony, Apollo Offer $26B in Cash for Paramount - How Could That Impact Streaming?
The future of Paramount may be decided in the coming days. In addition to a bid from Skydance, the Wall Street Journal reports Sony and Apollo Global Management have teamed up to offer $26 billion in cash for the entertainment company. Ultimately, the decision will be made by Shari Redstone, who owns most of the voting shares of Paramount.
While it’s hard to guess where Paramount would pivot under Skydance, a Sony/Apollo ownership offers more clues. Sony doesn’t own any TV stations, but it does create a lot of television shows that air on multiple networks. Its shows include “Shark Tank,” “The Wheel of Time,” “The Boys,” “Jeopardy!” “Wheel of Fortune,” and “Twisted Metal.”
The big question is whether Sony holds on to Paramount’s CBS or chooses to sell it to another media company. Linear networks are in decline, but CBS still holds valuable rights to the NFL and NCAA basketball. Historically, Sony has operated as an entertainment “arms dealer,” and it’s likely the company would prefer to continue that pattern by renting out popular Paramount franchises to other streamers and channels.
Sony currently has streaming deals that send titles to Netflix first, then Disney+. The acquisition of Paramount likely wouldn’t fall under that deal, allowing a newly formed Sony/Paramount to auction the new assets.
Paramount shot itself in the foot by allowing streaming rights to popular titles to flow to other streamers before the creation of Paramount+. “South Park” goes to Max and “Yellowstone” goes to Peacock. But when those contracts expire, Sony would be keen to sell them to the highest bidder. Paramount has incredibly valuable IP in children’s entertainment with the Nickelodeon library of “PAW Patrol,” “Peppa Pig,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and much more. Netflix and Peacock would love to raid that library to shore up their content against Disney+.
Given Sony’s reluctance to invest in entertainment platforms, we expect the company would sell off the networks (BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Smithsonian Channel) and shutter Paramount+ and Showtime. Sony would keep control of the IP of those Paramount shows and movies, leasing them back to the new station owners and allocating them to streaming services with new deals.
Paramount cut CEO Bob Bakish loose on Monday and remaining company leaders refused to take questions during the company’s earnings call that day.
Paramount Plus
Paramount+ is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 40,000+ TV show episodes from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and more. The lineup includes “1883,” “Tulsa King,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “PAW Patrol.” Subscribers can watch the NFL, college football, The Masters, college basketball, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa, Serie A, and NWSL. The service also offers the option to watch your live CBS affiliate. The upgraded ad-free package includes premium movies and shows from Showtime.