This October, Paramount Skydance finalized a $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. This deal formed a multi-media giant backed by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison and CEO David Ellison. The merger has combined legendary production lots, vast IP catalogs, two major streaming services, and two iconic news networks under a single corporate roof, and it is another one of the worst things that could have happened to American film and television.
The American film and television landscape operates as an oligopoly controlled by just a few brands such as Disney, Amazon, and now Skydance. Skydance now controls franchises ranging from Harry Potter and Game of Thrones to Top Gun, SpongeBob SquarePants, and the entire DC Universe, as well as other major TV networks such as MTV, Discovery, Food Network, and more.
It also controls both Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, two of the biggest rivals in cable cartoons ever. If that wasn’t enough, they also own CBS and CNN, becoming the first time two major news stations will belong to the same corporation while also merging HBO Max and Paramount + into one streaming service in the near future.
Similarly, Skydance’s biggest rival, Disney, for the last 2 decades has been on a tyrant run of gaining major acquisitions in film and television. Purchases such as Lucasfilm, Marvel, and 20th Century Fox have all become standardized and known under the Walt Disney mantra for years now.
The current industry landscape of American film and television is one that is not just slowly decaying, it seems, with each year, with fewer and fewer people watching television each passing year, but is now in control of immeasurable corporate greed that would rather pump out unwanted and bad remakes and live-action adaptations of films.
There is no longer any media competition or a market at all; it’s just the same 7 rich mega corporations fighting for attention and trying to wring out any dollar they can from the consumer market. Skydance’s massive absorption of Warner Bros. is just another step down the already several American film and television has fallen down, and the industry continues to decline due to a focus on money rather than passion.
And I’m not saying to protest these corporations or stop watching television or films made by them. But make sure you aren’t engaging with these brands out of a feeling of obligation, and be sure to support smaller studios, brands, and indie directors and producers just as much.
