Valuetainment - March 05, 2026


“This Could KILL CNN” - Paramount-Warner Merger Creates 200M Subscriber Streaming GIANT


Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

215.55756

Word count

3,426

Sentence count

310

Harmful content

Misogyny

3

sentences flagged

Toxicity

14

sentences flagged

Hate speech

6

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Ted Sarandos had a chance to make a deal with the White House, but it was not to be. Now what does that mean for the future of the deal between Netflix and HBO? And what does it say about the deal and what it means for Netflix's future in the entertainment industry? Today's After Hours with John Rocha, Sarah Downey, and Mark Cuban break it all down.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
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00:00:12.640 So Paramount merger could create streaming behemoth with 200 million subscribers.
00:00:20.400 And if they combine HBO Max Paramount to challenge Netflix, which would be the plan.
00:00:25.900 Rob, is this the update of the news?
00:00:29.080 Yes, sir.
00:00:29.460 Go for it.
00:00:30.000 Paramount Skydance announcing plans to combine Paramount Plus and HBO Max.
00:00:35.080 Just three days ago, HBO's parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery, agreed to be acquired by Paramount.
00:00:41.620 CEO David Ellison says the combination will boost their subscriber base to 200 million.
00:00:47.640 Federal regulators still need to approve that merger.
00:00:50.500 That's a real number right there while this is taking place.
00:00:53.340 And Paramount, debt to its $79 billion after Warner Brothers deal, no plan to sell cable assets.
00:00:59.840 And Warner Brothers Discovery CEO Zaslav calls Paramount pivot whiplashy as a $110 billion deal takes shape.
00:01:07.380 So which clip is this, Rob?
00:01:08.940 This is about the $79 billion debt.
00:01:11.340 That's okay.
00:01:12.200 So, Tom, as we're going through this next phase, do you think there's going to be anything that's going to prevent this from happening?
00:01:18.380 Or it's pretty much Paramount's property, that's it?
00:01:20.840 Well, if you listen to Netflix and Ted Sarandos, well, I didn't end up meeting at the White House, and I think the president had his thumb on the scale.
00:01:27.780 Come on, Ted. 0.96
00:01:28.820 You know, that's loser talk. 0.94
00:01:30.620 You didn't get the deal. 0.96
00:01:32.040 You didn't get it done.
00:01:32.840 Ted said that?
00:01:34.080 Yeah.
00:01:34.520 He didn't say thumb on the scale.
00:01:35.720 He said they had favor with the White House.
00:01:38.100 They're meeting with the White House.
00:01:39.340 I don't know what you want me to do.
00:01:40.860 We always had our number.
00:01:43.620 This is what we had to do.
00:01:44.640 But Ted is exactly, you look at his quotes and tell me, does that sound like a guy who is a little bitter and maybe lost the deal?
00:01:51.780 Yes, it does.
00:01:52.280 I haven't seen it to make a real judgment on it.
00:01:54.320 Can you see, is it a clip or is it an article?
00:01:57.220 It was articles.
00:01:57.800 You just look at Ted's quote.
00:01:59.380 Look at Ted Sarandos' quotes in the last 96 hours.
00:02:03.640 He didn't meet with the president.
00:02:04.900 He actually went to the president and was told, I'm sorry, sir, your meeting has been canceled.
00:02:09.300 Really?
00:02:10.340 That's correct.
00:02:10.680 So the president canceled the meeting last minute.
00:02:13.380 Interesting.
00:02:14.000 He's got a few other bigger things on it.
00:02:15.420 Shortly after arriving at the White House that his meeting was canceled, he's in the waiting room.
00:02:20.760 I'm sorry, sir.
00:02:21.380 Would you like a coffee?
00:02:22.140 Yeah, you can go.
00:02:23.440 Trump's in the war room.
00:02:24.420 Sorry.
00:02:24.620 And so things like this, he was saying, was I ever going to meet with Trump?
00:02:30.080 No.
00:02:30.360 He had a, you know who they had set him up with?
00:02:33.120 Susie Wiles and Pam Bondi.
00:02:34.880 Well, why don't you talk about your concerns in the Federal Trade Commission with the Attorney
00:02:38.280 General and Susie Wiles? 0.79
00:02:39.940 That's what they told him.
00:02:41.360 And he wasn't going to get the meeting with the president.
00:02:43.280 And all the media was saying, he's going to the White House.
00:02:45.600 What does this say, though?
00:02:46.520 What does this say to you, Tom?
00:02:47.860 It says that Trump had no desire to really listen, give ear to Netflix.
00:02:53.800 You can talk about desires and intentions later.
00:02:56.380 But there was, the president was busy with Iran and planning.
00:03:00.060 And no, I'm not giving you my ear.
00:03:04.120 Mark, where are you at with this?
00:03:05.860 Yeah, I mean, I would agree with that.
00:03:07.480 I mean, Trump made it pretty apparent that he didn't want to be involved in this deal.
00:03:11.860 You know, it's easy.
00:03:13.140 I love what you said. 0.98
00:03:14.100 That's loser talk. 0.71
00:03:14.900 You know, you want to make excuses for why you didn't get the deal, right? 0.96
00:03:18.000 You're always trying to find the blame.
00:03:19.800 And so I think that's really what it comes down to.
00:03:22.080 You know, from an interesting lens, Jeff Park put out this paper, and he called it the end
00:03:29.340 of the value, the death of the value investor and the rise of the ideological investor.
00:03:33.980 And he talked about how the Benjamin Graham world, the Warren Buffett world is gone.
00:03:37.400 Nobody invests on value anymore.
00:03:38.740 They invest on their ideology.
00:03:40.720 So Bud Light puts Dylan McGee, stock price goes down, and Cracker Barrel, right? 0.99
00:03:44.900 Yeah, pro crap. 0.98
00:03:46.640 Jeff Park's amazing. 0.98
00:03:48.440 And so he talked about, like, Sidney talks about great genes, and then American Eagle
00:03:53.220 goes up.
00:03:53.580 Well, he and stocks.
00:03:54.280 And so when I look at this, I like some of the shows on Paramount.
00:04:00.180 I don't like what Netflix has done.
00:04:02.100 So from an ideological side, to me, you know, it's like, wow, I'm kind of glad that deal
00:04:06.500 happened. 0.94
00:04:07.060 But I would just say, I would say it's loser talk.
00:04:09.140 The deal, they were outbid, and that's kind of all there was to it.
00:04:12.240 Well, I mean, if you look at the history of Netflix, Obama's, you know, politics, Suzanne
00:04:17.200 Rice, you know, you kind of know, no matter how much they try to play politics.
00:04:21.840 By the way, did Netflix give a million dollars for the inauguration?
00:04:26.620 I don't know if Netflix was part.
00:04:27.920 I know Amazon did.
00:04:28.780 I know Meta did.
00:04:30.100 I know quite a few people did.
00:04:31.180 But did Netflix participate in that or no?
00:04:33.500 Can you say, did Netflix inauguration?
00:04:37.420 I don't know if they were.
00:04:38.320 Remember the time of the inauguration?
00:04:40.620 It's like everybody went to a bar mitzvah where you didn't like the kid, but you gave
00:04:43.860 his dad an envelope anyway.
00:04:45.180 Sure, yeah.
00:04:45.740 So that was kind of like the inauguration.
00:04:48.480 So inauguration, there's no evidence that Netflix donated a million dollars.
00:04:51.600 Reports come from that.
00:04:52.380 Other major tech companies, exactly, including Amazon, Meta, OpenAI, all gave a million dollar
00:04:56.600 contribution.
00:04:57.520 They should have donated.
00:04:58.340 Well, I mean, you have to realize, as crazy as it sounds, these things matter.
00:05:03.600 They pay attention to it.
00:05:04.740 They're watching to see, hey, are you going to be a, because it was like, well, no, we
00:05:08.920 want to play neutral.
00:05:10.060 We don't want to say that we're on this side or this or that.
00:05:12.940 Amazon did, Meta did, Facebook did, Open did.
00:05:15.180 And I know it's like, well, Pat, that's exactly the problem.
00:05:17.800 Pay for play.
00:05:18.480 Then get rid of it.
00:05:20.020 Until you get rid of it, both sides are going to be doing it.
00:05:22.440 Then what do you do?
00:05:23.120 You sit on the sidelines and not say anything.
00:05:24.660 By the way, Jake Tapper came out and said the following about, you know, CNN will be affected
00:05:31.560 by Paramount's looming takeover of the network.
00:05:33.820 Rob, is this the clip?
00:05:34.680 Yes, sir.
00:05:35.080 Go for it.
00:05:35.840 Moments ago, Netflix said it is declining to raise its offer for the purchase of Warner
00:05:43.640 Brothers Studios and HBO following the Warner Brothers Discovery Board's determination that
00:05:49.540 Paramount, which is not just going for Warner Brothers Studios and HBO, but also the whole
00:05:54.300 angelata, including us here at CNN, Paramount has submitted a superior offer, according to
00:06:00.820 Warner Brothers Discovery's board.
00:06:03.560 As I've noted, Warner Brothers Discovery is the parent company of CNN.
00:06:07.140 So let's get right to CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter.
00:06:10.140 So let's start with the question.
00:06:11.920 He's fired up.
00:06:12.600 Why did Netflix walk away?
00:06:14.460 Ted Sarandos and others in Netflix made it very clear they really wanted Warner Brothers
00:06:17.700 Studios and they really wanted HBO.
00:06:20.860 They didn't want you.
00:06:21.760 In this corporate tug of war, it seems Netflix has suddenly let go of the rope.
00:06:25.900 There's a lot, of course, that could still happen here.
00:06:28.940 But the big news this afternoon is that Paramount suddenly is in a much stronger position to
00:06:34.660 take over CNN and the rest of the Warner Brothers Discovery company, which includes HBO and the
00:06:39.640 Warner Brothers movie studio.
00:06:40.440 Pause it right there, Rob.
00:06:41.340 So they asked insiders at CNN.
00:06:44.520 CNN Insider told Fox News Digital, which is kind of weird, but CNN Insider told Fox News
00:06:48.700 Digital, the mood is horrific.
00:06:51.400 People are very upset.
00:06:54.160 A second CNN Insider staffer said, a mix of despair, apprehension and curiosity.
00:06:59.580 Look, I think this is a place that has gone through a lot, a lot of mergers in the past
00:07:03.400 decade, a lot of fresh starts.
00:07:05.360 The Insider said, I think there's an underlying fear of mixing two news divisions.
00:07:09.800 Who is going to get camp?
00:07:11.380 Of course, they're going to be worried about it.
00:07:12.720 Tom, do you think there is going to be a massive restructure of getting rid of certain people
00:07:17.320 like Stelters?
00:07:18.680 Yes.
00:07:18.860 I thought Stelter got fired.
00:07:19.900 I don't know how he's back then.
00:07:20.880 I keep forgetting he's still employed.
00:07:22.900 So it's the, and then all of a sudden he pops up on the news.
00:07:26.160 Look, here's what you have.
00:07:27.900 You have to look at these as assets.
00:07:29.700 Look at those as divisions.
00:07:31.240 Look at it as product lines.
00:07:32.800 That is the way the Ellisons look at this.
00:07:34.680 They read all the things when they have talked deep.
00:07:38.340 Puck has covered it.
00:07:39.280 Information has covered it.
00:07:40.340 You can read some of the things that they've said, and they're looking at this.
00:07:44.320 They didn't buy this not to do anything with it.
00:07:46.500 Netflix didn't want the cable nets.
00:07:49.760 They were going to be left so that Zazz could put them together in a tracking stock, throw 0.97
00:07:55.120 it to the dogs on the market, and watch it like a cheap SPAC start at 10 and slowly drift
00:08:02.300 to 5 because there was nothing there.
00:08:04.460 And there was not a lot of, there's no cash being formed.
00:08:06.960 There's no valuing form.
00:08:08.400 Cable subs are going down.
00:08:09.460 The Ellisons look at it differently.
00:08:11.560 They're going to say, okay, CNN Plus didn't work because old school tried to build an OTT
00:08:16.540 channel, and they just mishandled it.
00:08:18.720 They went out and paid all this money to Chris Wallace.
00:08:20.880 I mean, you and I talked about this, Pat, remember?
00:08:22.940 And I'm like, Pat, if you were running this, this wouldn't be happening like this.
00:08:26.500 CNN Plus wouldn't have been doing it this way.
00:08:29.080 There would have been so many other ways to make money on this.
00:08:32.200 The Ellisons know that.
00:08:33.300 And guess what?
00:08:34.200 They have been cutting contracts at CNN for two years.
00:08:39.380 And Zazz has been going to the Allen Conference.
00:08:41.720 We've talked to people.
00:08:43.120 We've seen the quotes.
00:08:44.600 And at the Allen Conference, it's like Zazz walking up and opening his jacket. 0.66
00:08:48.260 Like you're walking out of the street in New York.
00:08:49.740 Want to buy a copy watch?
00:08:50.680 You know, it's like he's trying to sell CNN, and he hasn't been able to get any buyers.
00:08:55.100 They were trying to spin it off.
00:08:57.160 And strong reports indicated he was reminding people that, like, Caitlin Collins was on a
00:09:04.200 rookie deal.
00:09:05.160 She wasn't on one of these legacy 20-year super expensive deals trying to sell it.
00:09:10.680 And so what are the Ellisons going to do? 0.71
00:09:12.360 I think the old guys, like what we're hearing here, Brian and our friend Tepper, you know
00:09:18.180 what?
00:09:18.420 I think that they've had their time.
00:09:20.800 I think they're going to reconstitute it.
00:09:22.660 And they're like a product.
00:09:23.640 I think Tepper still has a place.
00:09:24.540 I don't think, I don't think, I think the people you have to get, if you're building a
00:09:28.160 news station, you don't get rid of center left, center right, middle.
00:09:33.280 You don't, you get rid of the, there was a girl on CNN the other day I was watching this. 0.97
00:09:37.980 And I think she works for CNN.
00:09:39.400 Rob, I don't know if you've seen this or not. 0.96
00:09:41.220 She said a convicted rapist.
00:09:44.200 Did you see this one? 1.00
00:09:45.240 They tried to correct her over and over and she eventually was like, she lost her shit. 1.00
00:09:50.460 And CNN's like, listen, you can't talk like that. 1.00
00:09:53.600 I'll find it to show you.
00:09:54.720 You have to get rid of the people that are saying stuff that makes absolute no sense.
00:10:00.820 But Jeff, what do you think is going to happen with this?
00:10:02.920 You think CNN's going to go through a massive, if the deal closes, how nasty do you think
00:10:06.800 it's going to be for CNN?
00:10:07.560 I think Paramount is going to shut CNN down.
00:10:10.300 Shut CNN down?
00:10:11.160 Yeah.
00:10:11.520 There's no value in it.
00:10:12.640 I mean, Tom, you just spent five minutes talking about how CNN is valueless.
00:10:16.440 It has no value.
00:10:18.400 And the value is not going to suddenly rise in the future.
00:10:21.540 Everybody's moving away from cable television and cable news.
00:10:24.260 So you milk what you can out of it.
00:10:26.520 You take whatever parts are good enough to move to other parts of the division.
00:10:29.700 And CNN as a brand, let's face it, completely tarnished.
00:10:33.200 That's never coming back.
00:10:34.560 Like, certainly the people on the right, somebody on the right is never going to watch CNN again.
00:10:38.480 Other than maybe, you know.
00:10:39.720 Scott Jennings is a stud.
00:10:41.520 Scott does a good job.
00:10:41.960 He's not going to stay there.
00:10:42.940 Let's be honest.
00:10:43.480 He's not going to stay there.
00:10:44.000 He just re-signed his contract.
00:10:45.580 I think six months ago he signed a new contract with them.
00:10:47.580 Perhaps.
00:10:48.480 No, he did.
00:10:49.200 He was here on the show and he told us this like three months ago.
00:10:50.900 I think eventually what happens is Paramount says we're done with CNN.
00:10:54.180 Okay, so let me push you back.
00:10:55.040 It's not really about CNN anymore.
00:10:56.400 Do you think a Paramount takes a guy like Scott and says, why don't you run it and do what they
00:11:02.100 did to CBS by bringing Barry Weissens and Barry from Free Press, you run it.
00:11:06.800 Do you think something like that is possible?
00:11:08.340 Except not in the old legacy media format.
00:11:11.320 You take somebody like Scott and make him do what you're doing.
00:11:15.080 You say, oh, we're going to build a social media new empire around it.
00:11:18.720 You take the talent and build up the infrastructure around it.
00:11:21.060 Got it.
00:11:21.320 You don't use the old legacy framework, which is no longer viable.
00:11:25.540 Let's be honest.
00:11:25.920 It's no longer viable.
00:11:27.140 No, I agree.
00:11:28.240 I agree.
00:11:28.600 You know, for me, I get invited to shows.
00:11:30.000 I'm having dinner with a couple of guys.
00:11:31.320 They're like, hey, how come you don't come back to our Fox anymore?
00:11:33.720 I said, dude, why would you?
00:11:36.140 Let me tell you what I said to them.
00:11:38.120 I don't mind going to these shows, but here was my problem.
00:11:41.340 I said, look, I don't live on TV.
00:11:43.140 I come to your show.
00:11:44.640 I know who the audience is, and you guys don't cut the clip on YouTube or X.
00:11:48.600 Why am I coming to your show?
00:11:50.000 It's a waste of my time to sit till 930 to do a four-minute clip, and then all of a sudden
00:11:54.400 you're not posting a clip for two or three days.
00:11:56.180 I have no interest.
00:11:57.040 I have better things to do.
00:11:58.040 I said, they have to also realize what they need to do to attract the younger people to
00:12:02.080 come on, that you need to get to their audience where their audience is at.
00:12:06.540 Some that do, great, let's roll.
00:12:08.120 Some that don't, why would it continue coming back on?
00:12:10.360 Well, I would say the point that Jeff made, I mean, that model is dead.
00:12:13.560 The rails are gone.
00:12:14.520 And what I think about specifically is the network model.
00:12:17.540 And so where it lives supreme is at the airport or, you know, where it is.
00:12:22.140 The doctor's office.
00:12:22.620 In the hotel lobby, I was, you know, I had to go get some passport stuff.
00:12:27.500 I'm sitting in the office, and it sits there all day, and it just runs.
00:12:29.640 But the network model is mostly dead.
00:12:31.040 Today, it's on demand.
00:12:32.320 I see a show I want.
00:12:33.500 I watch the show.
00:12:34.280 I turn it back off.
00:12:35.140 Or save it for later.
00:12:36.040 Just in time information, right?
00:12:37.580 And so I watch what I want to watch.
00:12:39.300 And then the day of having a network that just runs 24-7, and I sit there and watch the
00:12:43.960 program, and it's over.
00:12:45.460 Yeah, like I said, the old people, they have their TV on all day or at the airport. 1.00
00:12:48.600 That's coming to an end.
00:12:49.580 The model's dead.
00:12:50.720 That's the only value that's left is pharmaceutical ads to boomers. 0.86
00:12:53.840 Yeah.
00:12:54.020 As soon as the, you know, demographic shift, boomers start to die off. 0.90
00:12:58.020 Who need the pharmaceuticals. 0.93
00:12:59.420 Exactly.
00:12:59.940 So then the whole model is just dead.
00:13:01.860 So you milk what you count as CNN.
00:13:03.000 Not to mention the cost.
00:13:04.200 I mean, look at this production here.
00:13:05.540 It's probably a fraction of what CNN would cost to run.
00:13:07.700 Absolutely.
00:13:09.040 No, business-wise, it doesn't make sense on what they're doing.
00:13:13.040 But it is what it is.
00:13:14.740 I'm curious if they're actually going to do what you're talking about, which is shutting
00:13:18.060 the whole thing down.
00:13:19.680 And if they do, obviously, you know, it'll be a statement to the entire marketplace.
00:13:24.620 What the hell do they do next?
00:13:26.460 Where do I go next?
00:13:27.840 What happens to the business model?
00:13:29.900 You know, do I have to go be independent?
00:13:31.640 Do you know how hard it is to be independent?
00:13:34.420 Do you know how many people like these guys?
00:13:36.580 So today at 6 o'clock news, we found out that I'm being a teleprompter host.
00:13:43.020 Yeah.
00:13:43.940 And then go do it like this.
00:13:45.360 You're live.
00:13:45.860 Oh, my God.
00:13:46.360 Comment section.
00:13:46.920 Did you hear what they said about me?
00:13:48.080 They said this.
00:13:48.840 Fix your tie.
00:13:49.500 Oh, my God.
00:13:49.880 I don't want to read the comments.
00:13:50.920 And then you go to all these tough guys, Ilhan Omar and Deer and Mehdi Hassan, and they
00:13:54.540 go on Twitter.
00:13:55.120 They post a bunch of stuff.
00:13:56.360 What do they do?
00:13:57.200 Cut the comments.
00:13:57.780 Comment section.
00:13:58.500 Yeah.
00:13:58.700 Turn the comment section on.
00:13:59.740 What are you afraid of?
00:14:00.960 People get called out all the time.
00:14:02.500 But they hide the comment section.
00:14:03.720 I don't want people to say anything.
00:14:04.680 Just my friends say nice things about me.
00:14:06.900 This business is nasty.
00:14:09.300 Yeah.
00:14:09.700 It is so nasty.
00:14:10.860 And the part I'm excited about is how that transition is going to take place and how many
00:14:16.940 of them are going to make it.
00:14:19.200 Like you guys, independently, you run your own shows.
00:14:21.420 You have a few hundred thousand listeners that follow you.
00:14:23.460 Both of you got almost a million people that follow you.
00:14:25.800 Your channel, Wealth is Engineered, Mark Moss, Reasonable.
00:14:28.760 We had you on before.
00:14:29.760 Yeah.
00:14:30.060 And I like his taste.
00:14:31.080 This morning, we texted each other.
00:14:32.620 I said, you better wear a gray suit today.
00:14:34.560 And he followed.
00:14:35.140 He followed suit.
00:14:36.120 But I wanted a dark shirt.
00:14:38.820 We had a differentiator.
00:14:40.460 And then Jeff Snyder's channel, Eurodollar University.
00:14:43.180 Can you imagine?
00:14:44.060 Independently.
00:14:44.940 We're just doing our own thing.
00:14:46.420 And people are showing up from around the world saying, hey, what does he have to say?
00:14:50.600 What does she have to say?
00:14:51.760 What are they talking about?
00:14:52.780 So if you enjoy what Mark and Jeff had to say, we're going to put the link below.
00:14:58.060 Go support them.
00:14:59.320 Subscribe to their channels.
00:15:00.700 And Tom's got a burger episode that's coming up that I keep being taught.
00:15:04.360 It's being posted everywhere at the office.
00:15:06.180 So when it does come out, folks, we're going to share with you as well.
00:15:08.760 Remember, this is the biggest request I have from you.
00:15:12.100 51% of you watch our podcast who are not subscribed to it.
00:15:16.260 You just watch it, consume it regularly.
00:15:18.280 But you haven't pressed that subscribe button.
00:15:20.260 That's very important to us on the algorithm.
00:15:22.740 If you enjoy the big, this last week, our team has done a great job.
00:15:25.600 A lot of interviews, a lot of different shows.
00:15:27.540 It's a cost.
00:15:28.900 I don't take any money off the table.
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