What Will Happen to CBS, Other Paramount Linear Channels if WBD Merger Goes Ahead?

Two of the biggest media operations in all of Hollywood could become one in the next six months. News broke on Wednesday that Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery were in the early stages of a merger discussion, and now speculation is rife about what the newly formed company would do with their combined array of linear channels if a merger or acquisition does come to fruition.

• WBD owns CNN, TBS, TNT, and others, while Paramount owns CBS, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, and more.
• Some of these channels are likely to be put up for sale if Paramount and WBD do merge.
• BET and MTV are most likely to be sold, while CBS seems destined to stay with the combined company.

What Do Paramount, WBD Own in Terms of Linear Channels?

Warner’s best-known assets are CNN, Discovery and the Turner Networks, but it has plenty of other live TV channels. It controls brands like Food Network, HGTV, and TLC, in addition to Animal Planet, the Travel Channel, and TCM.

Paramount lists CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Network as its top-line assets. Unlike WBD, it owns both broadcast and cable channels, which made its potential acquisition by another media company tricky; WBD does not own a broadcast channel currently, so it’s less likely to run into regulatory issues with the federal government than a company like Disney or Comcast if they were to try and acquire Paramount, since those outlets own ABC and NBC respectively.

What’s Likely to Happen with WBD, Paramount Linear Channels Post-Merger?

If Paramount and WBD do merge —which is still far from a sure thing— it’s likely that at least some of the cable channels owned by the two companies would be sold to a new buyer. That’s especially true considering David Zaslav is still CEO of WBD, and his cost-cutting measures at the company last year gained widespread notoriety. Indeed, there is already a healthy amount of speculation on what other facets of the two companies could be cut in a merger.

BET is the most likely channel to go since it’s already the topic of serious sale discussions. A management-led investor group is reportedly interested in acquiring the channel, and billionaire media mogul Byron Allen has lodged another bid for BET Media Group after a failed pursuit of that asset over the spring and summer months.

Outside of BET, MTV seems like the most likely target to be outright sold. On the one hand, MTV’s lineup of unscripted TV shows would fit right in alongside the lineup of reality shows moved from discovery+ to Max this year. On the other, MTV hasn’t been a major cable TV brand in decades, and selling it could provide meaningful relief to WBD as it seeks to reduce a debt load of more than $45 billion.

There are several redundancies in the TV libraries of both companies that could also be addressed in a merger. For example, WBD owns Cartoon Network while Paramount owns Nickelodeon, which holds the rights to top brands like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “PAW Patrol.” It’s unlikely Paramount/WBD would sell the rights to Nick and all the shows it holds, but it could combine with Cartoon Network into a single channel to help reduce back-end costs.

One channel that audiences should expect the hypothetical new company to keep at all costs is CBS. Paramount pays $2 billion per season for NFL rights, and though cash-flow problems have it sweating its next payment currently, a quick glance at the ratings suggests those rights are worth every penny. CBS is one of just five broadcast TV networks (not including PBS) and having one of these five networks that reaches every TV with an antenna is a highly valuable asset.

There are a thousand unanswered questions surrounding the potential merger of Paramount and WBD, and once those are answered there will be one thousand more. But one of the most interesting questions is what will happen with all the linear channels the two companies own, and which will fall by the wayside as the new company tries to move forward with only the most profitable networks.