How The Paramount Warner Brothers Discovery Merger Will Impact Disney+
This week, after a year of legal issues, Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery have cleared their final lawsuits and are looking to complete the deal in October. The combination of these two iconic studios will ripple across the industry, and while some protections have been put in place to limit job losses and keep some studios in place, they are only temporary.
While this merger won’t likely have too much impact directly on Disney+,
There are four major areas I think the merger of Paramount with Warner Brothers Discovery affects: production, competition, licensing and Add-Ons/Bundles.
Competition
Possibly one of the biggest impacts on the future of Disney+ with the merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery is that with multiple streaming services potentially merging together- HBO Max, Paramount+ and Discovery+- this will make the combined platform a massive competitor. With over 30 theatrical releases each year, plus new shows from major studios and a vast catalogue of known films and shows, in addition to massive franchises like DC Studios, Looney Tunes, Nickelodeon, Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Harry Potter.
This competition will no doubt spark Disney to do better, not just with better movies and shows, but with their entire output. Which is much better for audiences, as this competition, along with Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and Universal, means Disney can’t rest on its laurels and deliver the best content for its viewers. I’m also hoping that the combination of Paramount’s and Warner Bros .’ vast library of classic films and shows will also give Disney a kick in the butt to take its library more seriously and start adding older films and shows to its platform for older audiences, instead of constantly looking for new things.
Competition is also a major reason why we’re seeing Disney+ and Hulu merging, as in order to compete with the other major streaming services, bringing everything into one platform offers a more compelling offer to viewers, encouraging new customers and keeping existing subscribers.
Licensing
Currently, Disney does have some licensing agreements in place with both Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery, bringing a selection of shows and films to both Hulu and Disney+ around the world. While the selection of offerings isn’t as big as it was years ago, licensing has continued as a way to bring in additional revenue for legacy studios, while also offering Disney+ and Hulu a short-term boost in different content.
This likely won’t change overnight, but depending on what direction the new owners want to take, with a plan on making Paramount+ a bigger global platform, they might want to bring all of their content exclusively to their own streaming service, likely resulting in fewer options for licensing. However, the merger is also costing billions, so the new owners might welcome additional licensing income.
Production
One element of the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. that many might not instantly think of, is that Warner Brothers Television makes a number of popular shows for Disney, including “Abbot Elementary”, “The Bachelor”, and “The Bachelorette”, along with the upcoming Disney+ Original series, “Afterlife with Archie”.
Major studios making shows for other networks isn’t anything new; Disney’s 20th Television makes a number of different shows for other networks/streamers, including Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This” and “The Beast In Me”, or Apple’s “The Last Thing He Told Me” and “Bad Sisters”.
While I don’t think we will see any changes to the existing shows made by WB, the big question after the merger is whether or not they will work on new projects together, especially as we are likely going to see dramatic job cuts across the two companies as the new owners look to reduce costs.
Add-Ons/Bundles
Currently in the United States, Disney offers a bundle of Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max, while also offering Paramount+ With Showtime, HBO Max and Cinemax add-ons within Hulu. Disney executives have confirmed they are planning on bringing add-ons to Disney+ soon, as it looks to merge Hulu and Disney+ together.
While in the short term, we might not see any major changes, we don’t know what Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery are planning to do once they’re officially merged. The new owner, David Ellison, has already laid out plans to merge HBO Max and Paramount+ to make a more powerful global streaming service, which will no doubt affect the future of both the existing bundle and add-ons. Either they will be updated with the new combined offering or simply discontinued and removed.
It will likely come down to a decision by Paramount on whether it wants all of its customers only using their own app, since that will provide them with important data, control and advertising revenue. Or whether it will be happy to partner with Disney and Amazon to offer add-ons like they currently do, in order to encourage growth and subscriber reach.
Ultimately, in the short term, we won’t see anything change until the merger is official and the dust settles. When Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, it took many years until everything was sorted, but this merger is going to result in the combined offerings of Warner Brothers and Paramount being much stronger together, with a focus on becoming one of the most popular streaming services around the world, giving competition to Disney+.
What do you think the merger will impact Disney+? Let me know on social media!
