The news has been met with mostly negative reactions. Mergers like this rarely end well for the people involved. Think of Canal+ buying MultiChoice or SEGA buying Rovio (the company behind Angry Birds). In both cases the new owners quickly started cutting costs. The same pattern is likely here. Every contract Paramount looks to terminate will leave people out of work as the combined company scales back to manage its heavy debt load.
I’m curious to see how these changes will hit Discovery Channel, TLC, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, and the rest of the Warner brands. Will we also see further restructuring or consolidation of channels like Discovery Family, Real Time, MTV, and Nicktoons?
Paramount already cut a number of MTV, BET, and Nickelodeon channels last year. Honestly, I expect more channel cuts are coming. At the same time, the way Paramount has been presenting this deal—and the sheer amount of debt it is taking on—makes me wonder how aggressive those cuts will actually be.
I’m not defending the company. When deals like this happen, I actually like the idea of some downsizing. I don’t see why Travel Channel and Discovery Family still need to exist when so much of their content already appears on other channels. That is why I suspect the cuts may not be as deep as many people are predicting.
MTV is a good example of a brand that has already lost a lot of its relevance, much like E! and CBS Reality. Flagship shows have been stripped away. I see two possible outcomes. The first is a gradual decline—similar to what happened when Discovery Inc. acquired Scripps and phased out Fine Living in favor of HGTV while deprioritizing Travel Channel. This buyout could push MTV further down that path.
The second possibility is that Paramount tries to reinvent MTV and take it back toward the drama-heavy schedule it once had with shows like *Teen Wolf* and *Faking It*. That feels plausible, especially since the channel has already licensed *The Big Bang Theory* and *Two and a Half Men* in some markets.
Then there are the repeat-heavy channels: Discovery Family, Real Time, and Nicktoons. These networks mostly recycle content already available on Nickelodeon, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and Discovery Channel. They feel redundant to most viewers. Given the debt Paramount is taking on, you would think these brands would be easy targets. Yet channels like this often survive longer than expected.
One possible move is aligning some of the international feeds. Discovery Family could be folded under DMAX. There is not much difference between the two anymore—Discovery Family has felt more like a Discovery Channel + brand than a true family network for years. Most of the content that once gave it a distinct identity has been phased out. Shows like *The Carbonaro Effect* and *Kids Do the Craziest Things* have already run their course.
Travel Channel has been on a downward spiral airing *Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives* as if viewers are not already getting enough of that on Food Network. Paramount would be better off merging Travel Channel with Real Time.
That would leave Nicktoons. From what I recall, Nicktoons still has wider global distribution than Boomerang or Boing. It is almost funny—Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount used to poke at each other with their own IPs. Now Nicktoons could become the place where those crossovers actually happen. A *Loud House* and *Teen Titans GO!* crossover feels very possible. The same goes for *SpongeBob SquarePants* and *Tom and Jerry*. Just do not expect those pairings on Cartoon Network. They would more likely invade Nicktoons’ schedule instead. Cartoon Network might get the leftovers, but who is really asking for more *SpongeBob* at this point? Even Squidward needs a day off.
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