HEY, BIG SPENDER: Paramount Skydance Says It Will Pay Warner Bros. Discovery an Extra $650 Million per Quarter if Its WBD Takeover Isn’t Completed by End of 2026.

David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is adding some additional financial promises to its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery as it continues to try to kill Netflix’s deal for WB.

Paramount on Tuesday said it will add an “incremental cash consideration” to WBD shareholders of 25 cents per share, equivalent to approximately $650 million cash value each quarter, for every quarter the proposed Paramount acquisition is not closed beyond Dec. 31, 2026.

That extra “ticking fee” reflects the confidence of Ellison and his team that a Paramount-WBD deal will have a smoother path to regulatory approval than Netflix’s merger with Warner Bros. Paramount (and others) have alleged that Netflix, if it owns HBO Max, would have a virtual monopoly on subscription streaming in multiple markets; Netflix has dismissed this, claiming that even with HBO Max its share of U.S. TV viewing would be 10%, still behind YouTube.

In addition, as part of Paramount’s sweetened deal terms for Warner Bros. Discovery, the company said it would pay the $2.8 billion breakup fee due to Netflix with the termination of the Netflix agreement if WBD shareholders accept Paramount’s $30-per-share offer for Warner Bros. Discovery in its entirety.

I’d much rather see Warner Bros. in Ellison’s hands than the wokesters’ at Netflix, but either way, it’s likely the end of Warner as it’s been known for more than a century.