TVN a Trump propaganda mouthpiece? Expert: This is a possible scenario after the takeover of Warner Bros.

If the Warner Bros. acquisitions The discovery would have been made by Paramount Skydance, the Trump team would like to influence the political narrative in the media, Dr. Małgorzata Bulaszewska from SWPS University told PAP. This would result in control over the way of talking about the government's policy and actions on the Polish market, she added.

Warner Bros. Corporation Discovery (WBD) on Friday accepted Netflix's offer to buy part of the business that includes film studios and streaming platforms in one of the largest deals in the world of media and entertainment. The agreement does not cover television channels owned by WBD, including TVN and CNN. In turn, Paramount Skydance announced on Monday an attempted hostile takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The offer concerns the purchase of the entire company, including channels such as TVN and CNN.

Why does Netflix want to buy Warner?

Cultural and media expert from SWPS University, Dr. Małgorzata Bulaszewska, asked by PAP what Netflix's goal is in taking over Warner Bros., replied that Netflix has a very wide reach to the recipient, it also has a lot of money, because it is valued at USD 409 billion, while its content is perceived as less valuable. Apart from a small number of valuable and interesting items, most of them are less interesting and are described by viewers as “Netflix mush”. According to the expert, what Netflix wants is to get access to ideas, ideas and valuable content that Warner Bros. has in its offer. – Let us add that Netflix is ​​interested in purchasing the so-called premium basket from Warner Bros. – adds the expert.

Moreover, she noted that it is also in Netflix's interest as a streaming platform to compete with Google and its platform, YouTube. – As it turns out, Google and its YouTube are now becoming a big competition for streaming, because more and more people, especially from Generation Z and Alpha, i.e. the slightly older ones, watch content not on streaming, but on YouTube – said Bulaszewska.

Why does Paramaount want to buy Warner?

However, on Monday, Paramount Skydance announced an attempted hostile takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), offering the company's shareholders $30 per share. The company announced in a statement that it had decided to publicly submit an offer to WBD shareholders, bypassing the management board, because – despite presenting six proposals for the acquisition of WBD – its management “never became significantly involved” in the negotiations. The offer concerns the purchase of the entire company, including channels such as TVN and CNN, and is worth USD 108 billion.

The expert explained that when it comes to Paramount Skydance, which is valued at only $16 billion, “he announced, unlike Netflix, the purchase of the entire Warner Bros.but with maintaining the production of about 30 Hollywood films a year, which will be shown first in cinemas, and thus the old type of introducing the film to the media markets will be maintained.” – This media group, whose value is smaller, joined this “battle”, probably for political reasons, to increase the chance of a uniform message. By purchasing the entire Warner, it wants to influence the media narrative and perhaps it does not yet fully see the need to fight Google that Netflix sees, the expert explained.

– What we see on the American market is an attempt to consolidate a media entity, it is about monopolizing the narrative reaching the audience. I would say that Netflix is ​​a friendly takeover and Paramount is an unfriendly takeover, said Bulaszewska.

The regulator will decide

The expert also pointed out that the regulator, which is the American state, will have the final say on the takeover. – Perhaps the regulator will not agree to this consolidation, because neither one nor the other of these corporations can buy either all or some significant part of Warner, because it will be perceived as monopolistic practices. We don't know that, she added.

When asked whether one could be afraid of too much streaming concentration if Netflix took over Warner Bros., she replied that “definitely, in addition to the previously mentioned narrative takeover, streaming concentration and monopolistic practices, but it would still be a positive takeover.”

Trump's team would influence the political narrative

According to Bulaszewska, if Paramount were to take over, then according to political assumptions, “Donald Trump's team would like to influence the political narrative, i.e. consolidate conservative views,” she said. She indicated that this would have an impact on the Polish media market due to TVN, along with its narrative, which would probably be in the mainstream of right-wing messages and favorable to the presidential team, not the left-wing government.

The president of Paramount Skydance is David Ellison, and his father is billionaire Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, who is friendly with US President Donald Trump. David Ellison's company Skydance Media acquired Paramount Global this year, resulting in Paramount Skydance. This took place in politically controversial circumstances.

– If Paramount bought Warner Bros., the consequence for our market would be taking control over how politics and government actions are talked about on the Polish market – explained Małgorzata Bulaszewska and added that “it may even be some kind of retaliation for the government's takeover of TVP.”

Paramount Skydance's bid for WBD was preferred by the White House, whose officials suggested in the press that only it could win regulatory approval. On Sunday, President Donald Trump suggested the same when commenting on Netflix's offer. When asked about the matter, he emphasized that due to the scale of Netflix and WBD's market share, the transaction “may be a problem.” He also announced that he would be involved in the decision-making process. (PAP)

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