ViacomCBS and Comcast’s potential partnership, involving a joint venture of the two companies streaming services, has been put on hold amid mounting regulatory scrutiny.
According to sources cited by Forbes, both companies slowed down their discussions about a partnership due to growing concerns about “the Biden Administration’s pledge to aggressively enforce the nation’s antitrust laws.” However, it’s also suggested that talks may resume, depending on the outcome of the proposed WarnerMedia-Discovery merger.
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ViacomCBS and Comcast are said to be awaiting the administration’s verdict on the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery to monitor how regulators react to the proposal before moving forward with their own partnership plans. A source tells Forbes that both parties held at least one “high-level” talk in June about the possibility of merging Paramount+ and Peacock.
Over recent years, the streaming market has grown increasingly saturated with new additions such as Disney+, Apple TV+, and HBO Max joining the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to offer consumers alternative ways to watch a wider range of content, but when Paramount+ and Peacock joined the fold, they struggled to match the success of their competitors.
At the very least, the companies will likely consider bundling the two subscriptions to improve their reach, though other strategic possibilities will no doubt be explored if the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger survives regulatory review, considering that Biden signed an executive order on July 9 vowing “to combat the excessive concentration of industry.”
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The WarnerMedia-Discovery merger was announced in May, with the companies joining forces in a $43 billion deal to combine WarnerMedia’s entertainment assets with Discovery to create a “premier, standalone global entertainment company” hosting “WarnerMedia’s storied content library of popular and valuable IP with Discovery’s global footprint.”
Want to know more? Click here to find out what the merger means for you.
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Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.