Business
Here’s what Paramount Skydance would be buying in a deal for Warner Bros. Discovery
Paramount+ signage in the Times Square neighborhood of New York, US, on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images
David Ellison looks to be buying up a media empire.
The CEO and chairman of the newly minted Paramount Skydance has tapped an investment bank to help prepare a takeout offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic dealings.
Warner Bros. Discovery had yet to receive an offer as of Thursday, according to people familiar. However, shares of the company soared almost 30% Thursday afternoon, notching the stock’s best day of trading on record.
Representatives for Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment.
Bringing Warner Bros. Discovery into the fold would add to Ellison’s growing list of franchise acquisitions and sports media rights. WBD, which announced in June it plans to separate into two entities, has a suite of desirable assets. Add those to Paramount’s collection of intellectual properties and Ellison could have a content behemoth on his hands.
“A bid for WBD would solidify the overlooked value of its portfolio of assets that was weighed down by its balance sheet,” Robert Fishman, analyst at MoffettNathanson, told CNBC Thursday.
A mountain of content
Already in house, Paramount boasts movies and television shows from franchises like Star Trek, Transformers, SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Paw Patrol, Scream and Mission Impossible.
More recently, it has expanded its video game-based IP beyond Sonic the Hedgehog, which is a billion-dollar franchise in its own right, to snag the rights to make a Call of Duty theatrical film and the distribution rights to Legendary’s Street Fighter adaptation.
Warner Bros. Discovery has a massive library of major franchises including DC superheroes, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter. It also has legacy cartoons like Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry. It is also the distributor of Legendary’s Dune franchise and Godzilla and King Kong films.
Last year, Warner Bros. was the second-highest grossing studio at the global box office and Paramount was the fifth-highest, according to data from Comscore.
In addition to bolstering Paramount’s theatrical slate, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service HBO Max counts more than 125 million subscribers as of the end of the second quarter. Paramount+ currently has around 77 million streaming users.
Chasing ESPN
In the wake of the Paramount-Skydance merger, Ellison also secured a $7.7 billion, seven-year deal to make Paramount the exclusive U.S. home for TKO Group’s UFC mixed martial arts organization. The agreement means UFC will stop its pay-per-view model and events will be available directly to Paramount+ subscribers and, in some cases, on CBS.
Sports rights are scarce and only become available when previous deals expire. Apple is already expected to be the home of Formula 1, and Major League Baseball is waiting until its deals expire after the 2028 season to reorganize its media packages. That means that Paramount will have few other top-shelf sports assets to bid on and acquire in the mid-term.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery has the rights to broadcast games from the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and March Madness basketball along with the French Open and Nascar.
A potential tie-up between Paramount Skydance and WBD would exponentially expand Paramount’s library of intellectual property and an arsenal of sports content that could help it compete with Disney’s ESPN.
Business
Joni Lamb, Whose Christian TV Station Went Global, Dies at 65
Joni Lamb, the president of Daystar Television Network, a televangelism broadcaster she founded with her husband, Marcus Lamb, turning their family into stars of Christian entertainment, died on Thursday. She was 65.
In an announcement posted on Daystar’s website, the company described the cause as “serious health matters” exacerbated by a recent back injury. It did not say where she died.
On a trip to Jerusalem in 1983, shortly after the couple married, Mr. Lamb visited the Mount of Olives and felt God telling him to move to Montgomery, Ala., and start a Christian TV station. He and Ms. Lamb poured their energy and modest finances into the effort and began appearing on the air two years later.
By the time they founded Daystar — in Texas in 1997 — they were experienced entrepreneurs and performers. After just a few years, they owned 24 stations around the country. By 2010, they had become the second-largest Christian broadcaster, after Trinity Broadcasting Network, and were reaching more than 200 countries, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Compared with other televangelists, the Lambs “are younger and come across as more ordinary folks,” David Clark, the president of a rival Christian broadcaster, told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2001. “They come across as being sincere.”
Mr. Clark added: “Marc is sharp, and his wife, Joni, is a big asset.”
The Lambs frequently appeared on their own network in a talk show format, discussing the pleasures and challenges of domestic life in a Christian idiom. Ms. Lamb, who liked to break into song, was Daystar’s leading talk show host, over the decades moderating shows like “Taking a Break With Joni” and “Joni Table Talk.” She would often be surrounded by other female regulars, putting questions to a male guest who had wisdom to impart.
The prominent pastor Jentezen Franklin visited earlier this year, for example, to discuss his new book, “The Power of Short Prayers.” The conversation slipped easily into evangelism.
“For someone watching right now: You’ve been listening; God’s opened your heart,” Ms. Lamb said. “In fact, your heart’s already been opened for some time, as you’ve been looking, searching, and you tried everything else. Always say, ‘Why don’t you try Jesus?’ A simple prayer: That will change your life for eternity.”
During the episode she was flanked, as she often was, by her two daughters, Rachel Lamb Brown and Rebecca Lamb Weiss, and referred to her husband by his first name, as if the viewers at home were family friends.
In 2021, Mr. Lamb died, at 64, of Covid-19, after having frequently suggested that people should pray instead of getting vaccinated. Ms. Lamb announced his death on air.
The travails of the Lamb family were often incorporated into the station’s programming. In 2010, Mr. Lamb admitted on live TV to an extramarital affair and described an attempt to extort millions of dollars in blackmail.
“Christian TV took a soap opera turn,” The Dallas Morning News wrote of the episode.
In 2020, Daystar returned a $3.9 million Paycheck Protection Program loan after the CBS program “Inside Edition” investigated the company’s purchase of a Gulfstream jet used by the Lamb family for beach and golf trips.
Four years later, a panel of Ms. Lamb’s talk show regulars questioned her on air about an accusation by her son, Jonathan, that there had been a coverup of a family member’s sexual molestation of his infant daughter. Ms. Lamb denied that any abuse had occurred, and after an investigation, no charges were filed.
Joni Lynn Trammell was born on July 19, 1960, in Greenville, S.C., where she grew up. Her father, Billy Frank Trammell, worked for a local refrigeration and heating company and would evangelize with friends he made playing basketball. Her mother, Sandra (Hudson) Trammell, competed in the Miss Greenville beauty pageant.
The Lambs met at a Greenville church in 1980, when Mr. Lamb, a traveling Pentecostal preacher, was visiting. They married in 1982.
Their early investments in TV stations came fortuitously, at a time of deregulation that The Star-Telegram would describe as “market bottom.” They later made money buying and selling small broadcast towers, and selling airtime to ministries and churches.
In 2023, Ms. Lamb married Doug Weiss, a sex therapist who became a co-host on Daystar. He survives her; other survivors include her three children and several grandchildren.
On air earlier this year, Ms. Lamb told viewers that the Christian faith guaranteed a posthumous reward.
“When you pray that prayer, and you receive Jesus, he forgives your sins,” she said. “When you die, you’re going to heaven.”
Business
US consumer price inflation hits 3.8% in April, highest in nearly 3 years as Iran war fuels energy costs – The Times of India
US inflation rose in April to 3.8 per cent as surging fuel costs amid the ongoing Iran-US conflict drove up consumer prices, hitting a three-year high complicating the Federal Reserve’s path on interest rates.Data released by the Labor Department on Tuesday showed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.6 per cent in April after a 0.9 per cent jump in March, the biggest monthly rise since June 2022. On an annual basis, inflation accelerated to 3.8 per cent, marking the highest year-on-year increase, since May 2023.Petrol prices in the US are now more than 28 per cent higher than a year ago, according to official data. AAA estimates show average gasoline prices have crossed $4.50 per gallon, roughly 44 per cent above year-ago levels, squeezing household budgets and raising concerns about broader economic fallout.The spike in energy prices follows the escalation of hostilities between the US, Israel and Iran earlier this year. Markets were rattled after Tehran blocked access through the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global energy route that handles nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, remained relatively contained. Core CPI rose 0.4 per cent month-on-month and 2.8 per cent annually, suggesting that higher fuel costs have not yet fully spread across the wider economy.Food prices also edged higher in April. Grocery costs rose 0.7 per cent from March, led by increases in meat prices after a slight decline in the previous month.The latest inflation reading adds to uncertainty for the Federal Reserve, which had earlier been expected to begin cutting interest rates in 2026. Policymakers are now signalling caution amid fears that prolonged geopolitical tensions and elevated oil prices could trigger another wave of inflation.US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised the Fed for not lowering borrowing costs faster to support economic growth. Attention is now turning to Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee to succeed outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose Senate confirmation is expected this week.Higher fuel costs are also beginning to weigh on corporate America. Appliance maker Whirlpool Corporation said last week that quarterly revenue fell nearly 10 per cent, warning that the war-driven economic slowdown had severely dented consumer confidence.
Business
EBay rejects £41.4 billion GameStop takeover offer
EBay has turned down a 56 billion US dollar (£41.4 billion) takeover move from GameStop, labelling the proposal as “neither credible or attractive”.
GameStop boss Ryan Cohen launched an unsolicited offer of 125 dollars (£92.40) per share – half in cash and half in GameStop stock – to eBay shareholders last week.
However, the online marketplace’s board confirmed on Tuesday that it had now rejected the move.
In a letter, eBay chairman Paul Pressler said it reviewed the offer but believes that eBay is a “strong, resilient business”.
He added: “We have sharpened our strategic focus, strengthened execution, enhanced our marketplace and seller experience, and consistently returned capital to shareholders.
“With its differentiated global marketplace and a clear strategy, eBay’s board is confident that the company, under its current management team, is well-positioned to continue to drive sustainable growth, execute with discipline, and deliver long-term value for our shareholders.”
GameStop, which runs around 1,600 shops around the US, said it started accumulating eBay shares earlier this year and currently has a 5% stake.
Mr Cohen had previously indicated he would take his proposal directly to eBay shareholders if the company’s board rejected the deal.
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