• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 20, 2024

In the new landscape of possible cable networks being sold off, perhaps closer attention goes to Paramount Global.

Although the Skydance Media deal won’t close until sometime in the middle of next year, analysts are considering the possibilities of what happens to some key cable TV network brands.

Daniel Kurnos, media analyst of Benchmark, reminds us that early last year Paramount’s Showtime had a possible buyer, for $3 billion a year ago -- David Nevins, a former Showtime executive. And Byron Allen, CEO of Allen Media Group, offered $3.5 billion -- twice -- to buy BET. But both those deals were turned down.

Although there have been no public disclosures of any bids for Nickelodeon and MTV, they “could be worth another couple of billion to the right buyer,” says Kurnos.

“The list goes on,” he says. But he adds that a possible Paramount deal might be just piecemeal -- not an entire cable TV network package of, say, a dozen networks of so.

“Smaller and more profitabl has been the message, and we would be surprised if Paramount did not ultimately benefit from this new potential cable aggregation market under a friendlier FCC [Federal Communications Commission] and DOJ [Department of Justice].”

This comes as Comcast Corp. is spinning off its cable networks and Warner Bros Discovery has divided its company in two -- the latter in preparation for a possible merger deal of networks with another company.

Paramount looks to follow its other two big legacy media competitors when it comes to these structural adjustments -- keeping TV and movie studio production operations, a broadcast network (in the case of Comcast), and streaming businesses.

This is good news. Paramount+ has moved, somewhat quietly, into profitability for the last two quarters in row.

But complicating the process are the existing challenges to the Skydance deal going forward -- additional regulatory issues.

There is a challenge from the Center of American Rights -- a news distortion complaint that pertains to CBS filed with the FCC -- one that the incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr seemingly sides with.

Carr told Fox News Channel: “I'm pretty confident that that news distortion complaint over the CBS ‘60 Minutes’ transcript is something that's likely to arise in the context of the FCC's review of that transaction.”

More difficult merger dances are ahead for Skydance, it seems.