What happened

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) rejected Paramount Skydance's latest proposal but gave the rival a week to try to improve the terms. The deadline named by WBD’s press office expires on February 23 — and the subsequent dynamics of the negotiations and the board’s position will depend on it.

“During this period WBD will engage with Paramount to discuss remaining unresolved deficiencies and to clarify certain terms of the proposed merger agreement.”

— WBD press office

Numbers and deadlines

In short, by the numbers: Paramount, according to WBD’s press release, has informally agreed to pay $31 per share (compared with the previous $30). Reuters calculated that Paramount’s current proposal values the entire WBD at $108.4 billion, while Netflix is offering $82.7 billion for the studio and streaming business alone.

WBD has already announced a special shareholders meeting on March 20, where shareholders will vote on the merger with Netflix. The company also plans to spin off its Global Networks unit into a separate public company (Discovery Global) — that operation is tentatively scheduled for the third quarter of 2026. The stated timeframe for closing the deal with Netflix is 12–18 months.

“A senior Paramount representative informally told a member of the WBD board that they agreed to pay $31 per share... and that this offer is not ‘best and final.’”

— WBD press office (via Reuters)

Why it matters

On the surface — it’s a corporate dispute over price. But in a broader context — it’s a battle over the structure of the global media market: who will own the large content libraries, which platforms will set distribution rules, and how this will affect competition and consumers’ access to content.

For shareholders the key question is whether Paramount can present a financially more attractive package by February 23 or whether the board will back the recommendation in favor of a merger with Netflix. For the market — the outcome will determine whether further consolidation of assets takes place or whether WBD remains an autonomous structure with separate businesses.

What’s next and why it matters for Ukraine

The next steps will determine the pace and shape of the deal: Paramount’s formal bid, the March 20 shareholder vote, and the process of spinning off Global Networks. If the merger with Netflix goes through, it will change the allocation of content rights and opportunities for local partnerships in various countries.

This matters for Ukraine for a practical reason: global changes in media ownership affect the availability of licensed content, conditions for cooperation with local producers, and broadcasting independence. Concentration of libraries in the hands of major players means platform policies and distribution terms will become decisive for Ukrainian viewers and the industry.

Analysts and Reuters note: in this story the winner will be the one who best combines financial logic with managerial argumentation. For observers, this is a time not for emotions but for closely tracking the numbers and the terms of the deals.

Finally: decisions by boards and shareholders show that the big media games are played not with loud ad spots but with legal and financial subtleties — the same mechanisms that will determine how and from where we learn about and watch the world in the coming years.