There are just some ideas that should never be allowed to become reality. Letting M. Night Shyamalan make The Last Airbender movie was one of the worst ideas in entertainment history. Deciding to make a new Star Wars trilogy with no concrete plan is still hurting the franchise to this day. And there is the complete tragedy of cinema that was Dragonball Evolution. However, these bad ideas could pale in comparison to what might be coming to the entertainment industry. Recently, online news outlet Axios dropped a major bombshell article, revealing that Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount were in talks about a potential merger. Both are struggling to compete with Disney and Netflix in the streaming wars, and somehow, they think fusing into one would be a good idea. And I have to say, it might the single dumbest idea to come out of the industry in recent years. 

Let’s explain why.

Exhibit A: Even more broke than they already are

When Warner Bros and Discovery merged to become Warner Bros Discovery, the resulting fusion was left deeply in debt. The company was billions of dollars into the red, and had to find ways to start making that money back as soon as possible. That led to the new CEO, David Zaslav, to start cancelling projects left and right to serve as tax write-offs. However, that strategy has since backfired on Zaslav. People start speaking out against the actions the company was taking, with Zaslav himself becoming a virtual pariah on social media. 

Meanwhile, Paramount is also losing money. Try as they might, it seems they can’t compete with the other big names on the streaming block. Currently, Paramount is $15 billion in debt, while WBD has three times that amount. Do you see where this is going? Should the two end up fusing, the fusion would be $60 billion in the red. That is not something they could easily pay off without making serious cuts, and people have made it clear how they’d respond to that.

Exhibit B: Too Great a Consolidation of Power

In recent years, there has been a lot of consolidation of businesses in the entertainment industry. Disney bought Marvel, Lucasfilm, Fox, and Hulu, making them the most obvious example. However, it’s more than just Disney. All across the industry, companies are trying to consolidate their power and influence, taking up more and more IPs without caring about what they might do with them.

This is bad on a number of levels. As corporations own more and more of the industry, the greater the chance they risk becoming a monopoly, something that the US government has laws in place against. In the past, when one business controlled the majority of a single industry, they could charge as much as they wanted without consequence. Anti-trust laws are in place to ensure that there’s healthy competition keeping the prices down and big businesses from bleeding customers dry. In other words, if they get too big, the Government could force them to break up. Imagine waking up one day and learning that the Government ordered Disney to disband its empire. As necessary as that would be, knowing that such a mainstay in Hollywood might not exist anymore would be heartbreaking.

Exhibit C: Content Creator’s Would Have Less Places to Work

Warner Bros Discovery has already earned the ire of numerous content creator’s in Hollywood for their actions. The most recent incident being the case of Coyote vs. ACME. WB’s snap decision to cancel the already-finished movie, which had already proven to test well with the target audience, made the Internet go ballistic. So much so that within a few days, they reversed their decision. Yet it’s more than likely that many people who worked on the film will decide to move onto greener pastures afterwards. 

If Warner Bros and Paramount merged, though, that would mean there would be less room for the people who work in the industry to find better employment elsewhere. When too few people provide the majority of working opportunities, people have less of a chance to find a job that’s truly best for them. Or, to put in simpler terms, these big businesses can treat their employees like dirt, and they’ll still keep working for them. Because they know that the only options they have available to them. Which means the people who make the shows you love might not be able to defend their creations if the higher-ups decide to axe them to save money.

Exhibit D: Warner Bros would have control of beloved IPs and Brands

From what people are saying across social media, this merger wouldn’t be an equal one. Warner Bros would end up having the lion’s share of power, and that means that they could do what they wanted with the stuff that Paramount owned. Now, remember what David Zaslav has done in the past to save money? Imagine doing that to the stuff that Paramount made, especially Nickelodeon.

For three decades now, Nickelodeon has been a name synomous with some of the greatest cartoons of all time. Rugrats, SpongeBob, Fairly Oddparents, Avatar: the Last Airbender, Hey Arnold, and more. Can you imagine what could happen to them if someone like Zaslav, who has shown he doesn’t respect animation as a medium, were put in charge of them. That is an absolute nightmare.

Even worse, think of what this could mean for the likes of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Both have titans of animation for decades and have had a massive impact on the world of animation. Their rivalry spurred them to create some of the best cartoons ever made to one-up the other. By merging Warner Bros and Paramount, that would effectively merge Nick and Cartoon Network together. They would lose any aspects that made them unique. Worse, that would mean people who don’t have either side’s best interests at heart would be in control of them. It’s bad enough Zaslav gutted Cartoon Network. Imagine if he did that to Nickelodeon. I don’t want to live in a world where Zaslav has power over SpongeBob and Avatar!

This Needs to be Stopped

The evidence has been collected and considered. On the one hand, this merger could allow for both WB and Paramount greater flexibility and greater access to resources than they would as separate entities. On the other hand, though:

  • $60 Billion in debt
  • Less Diversity in the Industry
  • Beloved IP’s would be at risk of being cancelled
  • ZASLAV potentially in charge of Nickelodeon.

The verdict: right now, the majority of people consider this merger idea to be a huge mistake. Nobody would win, everyone would lose, and we would have to live in a world where hits like Avatar and SpongeBob might be at risk. 

Is that the future that you want your entertainment to have?