“You have the illusion of choice” -George Carlin
The late legendary comedian George Carlin, who lived an edgy life, both onstage and off, was well-regarded as a genius performer during his life, and is seen as somewhat of a prophet for the observations that are still true nearly twenty years after he passed away in 2008 at the age of 71.
Carlin would have enough material for another dozen HBO specials if he were around today to verbally KO the thinly-veiled prejudice of most of the GOP, while he put the extreme of the other side in tears when he delicately explained to them that their self-important virtue signaling to be professionally offended isn’t some type of brave accomplishment.
One of the many reasons that George’s philosophies have endured long after his death is that he didn’t put a slate on things, he made an balanced observation and then cited the nonsense of it all.
His remark about choice was based on the fact that there’s a reason that there are two political parties, which can have a profound impact on society, while you can go Baskin Robbins to decide on 32 flavors of ice cream. His prose and performance on the circus of American society extended beyond the ballot box, as he warned of the consolidation of media, insurance, and oil companies as well.
It’s somewhat similar to the message in Roddy Piper’s cult classic, They Live, where the public should continue to consume and spend their money, while a select few in power make the decisions that really matter. Does anyone have any bubblegum?
Of course, when the topics of war, (remember those files?) cost of living, and critical rights of citizens are on the table, something based in entertainment like the professional wrestling business is rather moot in the grand scheme of things.
Despite that, the much bigger decisions that are made with much bigger motives than the prospects of a sports entertainment show can still have an eventual impact on the grappling arts. Just three years after Warner Brothers and Discovery merged, a move that would theoretically make the two entities a stronger force combined in the evolving media landscape rather than competing against each other for the same market share, headlines were made earlier this year when it was reported that WBD was looking to sell completely, with a slew of potential buyers. A few months ago, it was announced that Netflix would purchase specific assets of the WBD group, as far as the libraries and streaming platforms, which would include HBO Max. In short, this purchase would’ve given Netflix the rights to the extensive Warner Brother library, as well as the numerous HBO series, such as The Sopranos, The Wire, etc. Furthermore, it would also be the purchase of the movie studios, allowing Netflix to produce more original content as well. Even that deal implied that WBD as an entity was on shaky ground since they would’ve relinquished the rights to commodities that they theoretically could’ve monetized until the end of time, in favor of a cash infusion for the remaining television networks that were slated to be under the new umbrella of Discovery Global. Basically, this would’ve taken them away from the streaming business to focus on what’s left of the traditional television platform, which might’ve been the best option for them in terms of survival, but certainly indicated that they weren’t a flourishing corporation.
The problem with downsizing, at least in the short term, is that it would’ve reduced their footprint on the media business significantly, which would’ve made them more vulnerable to being surpassed by other networks. Without the movie studio, the corporation wouldn’t have the ability to lean on a potential box office hit to cover if other divisions of the organizations were sluggish in terms of numbers. Sure, CNN would’ve remained a tent pole, as cable news is one of the biggest draws that keep traditional television as a strong platform, but what content would the other channels have on their schedule? Keep in mind, part of the reason that Netflix was going to pay a staggering $82 billion for WBD Studios was to get access to classics like The Wizard of Oz, the Harry Potter franchise, and a portion of the superhero films so what content would be left for networks like TBS and TNT? Let’s not forget, those are valuable intellectual properties to own the rights to as far as future projects, which would be revenue streams that wouldn’t be available to the Discovery Global group.
If the Global Discovery networks would’ve floundered outside of CNN, it might’ve been only a matter of time until they are forced to sell entirely to another media conglomerate.
A few weeks ago, Paramount, one of the original bidders for WBD at the end of last year, made a shocking counteroffer to snatch the deal away from Netflix, with a massive $110 billion bid, an almost 35% hike from what Netflix offered. After Netflix declined to match or exceed the number, it was officially announced that Paramount would buy the entire WBD organization, including the cable channels.
As with almost everything these days, there’s a political spin on this story and the domino effect that it might have, particularly on the pro wrestling business.
David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount, is a close friend and hefty donor to Donald Trump. Ellison’s father, Larry was a software kingpin as far back as the 1970s and is currently listed as one of the top 10 richest people in the world, according to Forbes. Larry Ellison is also a longtime friend of Trump. David Ellison was a producer of several films, a handful of them gaining major success, through his Skydance Media company, a venture that was originally financed by his father. Since CBS is under the Paramount umbrella, the second generation Ellison made news recently when it was reported that a scheduled 60 Minutes story that was going to be critical of Trump was cancelled. Along those lines, there are concerns about not only the massive layoffs that usually happen with staff during mergers, but also the impact that Ellison ownership of CNN, a network often anti-Trump, will have on the news channel. As with anything else, the more consolidation of any industry will yield less options for consumers.
Obviously, on the surface, there will be anti-trust concerns, particularly with so much media and market share under the same banner, but as a substantial donor to the Republican party, Ellison will get the approval for the merger from the current administration.
How this will impact the mainstream news coverage in the country is the bigger story, but what about the media properties themselves?
Of course, this clears the way for the UFC, the TKO property that just inked a massive rights deal with Paramount last year, to have an expanded platform, giving Paramount the chance to generate more ad revenue from its partnership with the MMA league. Remember, UFC boss, Dana White is also a long-time supporter of Trump and the company will run an event on his birthday at the White House in June. It goes without saying that WWE as a corporate entity is in Trump’s favor as well, which is why the Justice Department dropped its investigation into Vince McMahon after the orange villain took office for his second term.
From strictly a pro wrestling prospective, could this potentially have an impact on AEW’s television deal with the Turner networks?
It remains to be see what, if any, impact the merger will have on All Elite Wrestling, but it was recently confirmed that Warner Brothers Discovery owns a 9% interest in the company. It goes without saying that if Ellison eventually opts to part ways with the pro wrestling organization that the Khan family that is worth billions of dollars will simply buy that portion of ownership from Paramount, but as of right now, what does this mean for All Elite?
The nepotism in every facet of American society isn’t anything new, but if a friend of Trump owns the networks that airs a competitive brand to WWE, another friend of Trump, is it possible that it could filter down to have an effect on the decision made to re-sign AEW?
As of right now, the current All Elite TV deal runs through 2027, with the option for a fourth year. It’s possible that this could go a few different ways. The simple, albeit less provocative path would be that AEW continues its partnership with the Turner networks without interruption. As mentioned, pro wrestling is small potatoes in terms of the scope of what this deal could mean in the grand scheme of things. Despite the decline in numbers in recent years, Dynamite still draws relatively consistent ratings, a major positive in the television industry so the pro wrestling shows are kept in place because they are under the radar enough that it’s not truly important enough for any of the Paramount suites to notice otherwise. On the other hand, it’s possible that maybe the TKO corporation that Paramount has billions of dollars invested in through the previously mentioned UFC deal, would prefer that the conglomerate doesn’t re-sign a potential competitor to the WWE, another TKO property, to a new television deal after the current contract expires in 2027. If that hypothetically took place, AEW would probably land somewhere else, but a smaller network means a smaller market share, and that means the organization would be a smaller force in the industry. The trickle down effect of that would be that the WWE would only strengthen its dominance of the business, translating to less options for both the talent and the fans. All Elite’s television deal and thus distribution of the product is stable until at least the end of next year, but with how fast the media business is changing, including the takeover from Paramount in the span of roughly two months, it’s very possible that this merger could have an impact on AEW in the future.
Carlin was right, you have the illusion of choice.
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Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
