• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

With all the concern about media mergers and their effects, can we go back to a calmer, normal Hollywood where creatives are nice to each other?

You know, getting back to “trying to rip each other’s heads off at the box office.” (Winky emoji goes here).

Those words came from Ari Emanuel, CEO of the WME Group, the large talent agency and CEO of TKO Group Holdings, who, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed column, came out in defense of a $110 billion deal for Paramount Skydance in its efforts to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. 

He believes the monopolistic/competition concerns coming from the 12-state attorney generals via their lawsuit over the deal is just plain wrong -- a “trash” legal filing. Among other things, he notes, maybe there should be a bigger concern over the growing dominance of Amazon or Netflix.

Well, those two companies -- in the streaming and the theatrical business -- currently don’t have a market share of say, 15%, 20%, or whatever is needed when it comes to the competition hurting films, TV, or streaming.

In part, the 12 states are focused on what would seem a large 27% share of the theatrical film business -- that is a combination of movie releases coming from Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. movie studios.

He wonders what would happen if WBD continued on its own -- without Paramount, especially considering $29 billion in existing WBD long-term debt. That said, the Paramount-WBD combo would result in $79 billion in long-term debt.

Emanuel threw a bone the way of David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance and Larry Ellision, his very wealthy father and backer of the deal, for taking over WBD's declining cable TV network business -- which will merge with Paramount's sinking cable TV business.

Analysts believe legacy movie/TV companies need to more quickly transition to streaming TV from linear TV. But the rub is that those businesses-- though declining -- and still profitable.

Netflix, in its proposed competing bid to buy WBD, wanted only the movie/TV production studios and its streaming services-- and no part of any of the cable TV networks.

The positive here is that Paramount leadership has said it would maintain a collective number of theatrical releases -- around 30 a year -- once the two companies complete its merger, as well as a minimum of a 45-exclusive theatrical window.

Still, we don’t really know what will happen in the long term overall.

Digging into Emanuel’s remarks about cable TV, what wasn’t expressed was what would come from those struggling businesses -- like how many hundreds of those employees or more will most likely be laid off.

Until then we wish Hollywood creatives to have a few more gentler moments.