The war for Warner Bros Discovery between Paramount/Sykdance and Netflix ended with the former claiming victory. While the streaming service has ducked out of owning the studio responsible for Looney Tunes, the DC Universe, The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and more, the merger still has some big hurdles to overcome before it’s made official. Paramount is currently working to win the approval of the European Union, and according to a new report, the studio might have to make some big changes to do so. While not confirmed, there is a possibility that the likes of SpongeBob Squarepants, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and more might be on the chopping block.
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In a new report from Bloomberg, Paramount Skydance Corp. is apparently getting ready to jettison some of its “children’s TV Network assets” to make the merger go through. Paramount is hoping to avoid this idea, though if push comes to shove, it seems that the studio will move forward without some of its biggest animated assets. For those who don’t know, while it isn’t specified in the article, this would most likely entail the Nickelodeon umbrella, which houses some of the biggest properties for the studio. Considering Warner Bros has a wide array of animated properties to its name, the European Union would have a problem with this animation monopoly.
Is The Paramount/WB Merger in Danger?
As a part of the article, Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst Jennifer Rie broke down the potential problems that Paramount could run into in relation to the European Commission. “It’s certainly likely that the commission will scrutinize overlaps between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery in the wholesale supply of children’s television channels. Concerns would be raised if combined market shares exceed 40% in any country.” Ironically enough, selling its animated properties might have Paramount meeting with a familiar face in this merger.
Netflix has been acquiring quite a few animated properties from Nickelodeon in recent years. Franchises like SpongeBob SquarePants, Rocko’s Modern Life, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Invader Zim, and The Loud House have brought new projects to the platform, so seeing the streaming service purchase these properties in the future would make sense. Even if Netflix takes over the animated properties, it would be anyone’s guess what the fate of Nickelodeon as a cable channel would be.
On top of many of the Nickelodeon franchises that Paramount owns, it would be interesting to see if this potential roadblock would apply to the adult animation side of the aisle. The studio has seen major success with the likes of South Park and Beavis and Butt-Head in recent years, and with the studio already planning future seasons for both, a loss of these adult franchises could strike a major blow. Luckily, neither franchise has been confirmed to be in danger as of the writing of this article.
What do you think of Nickelodeon potentially becoming a casualty of this upcoming merger? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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