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Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) (NASDAQ:PARAA) is reportedly in discussions to merge just its money-losing streaming offering Paramount+ with a partner streamer — and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is again coming up as a potential joint-venture mate.
Paramount is talking with other industry companies about such a venture, CNBC reported, and along with WBD, those talks are said to have included Comcast (CMCSA), whose Peacock service is of a similar competitive scale to Paramount+.
A combination of Paramount+ with a service like WBD’s Max and/or Peacock would give a firmer base with which to compete with the bigger players, in Netflix (NFLX) and Disney+/Hulu/ESPN (DIS).
Paramount (PARA) (PARAA) could also partner with a tech platform, co-CEO Chris McCarthy noted at a recent town hall cited by CNBC, pointing to the company’s large content scale.
Along with stabilizing churn, a joint venture that included co-ownership would also take some streaming losses off the larger company balance sheet.
As streaming names pivot from a heavy investment phase toward profitability, bundling services has come back in vogue.
Comcast has introduced a bundled offering of Peacock with Netflix and Apple TV+, while Disney and WBD say they will bundle their streaming offerings at a discount this summer. And the upcoming Venu Sports will combine sports networks from Disney, WBD and Fox (FOX) (FOXA).
