Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery complete $110 billion media megamerger by Emma Roth
Paramount has completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, forming a combined company known as Skydance. The merger officially puts Paramount and WBD’s film studios, along with major networks and brands like HBO, CBS News, and CNN, under one roof.
I wish Netflix had bought HBO. I was rooting for them. Also I’m already a Netflix subscriber.
HBO Max is putting on vertical shorts by Jay Peters
Warner Bros. Discovery is bringing a vertical video feed to HBO Max to help you find something new to watch. Streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney Plus, and Peacock already offer TikTok-like vertical video feeds to surface content that might be interesting to users, and now HBO Max will have a similar feed of its own.
Much of the content I see on YouTube Shorts for example is just clips from shows and movies, clipped for vertical form factor. And they are entertaining.
The problem is not the content. The problem is where the people are. I don’t find myself opening Netflix when I want to watch vertical videos. I’m on Instagram or YouTube and then they show me the vertical videos.
The problem is that people don’t pick up Netflix or HBO to pass time at work or elsewhere. They pick up Instagram or YouTube.