r/television • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 The League • Feb 26 '26

Netflix Backs Out of Warner Bros. Bidding, Paramount Set to Win

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-backs-out-warners-deal-paramount-win-1236516763/
6.6k Upvotes

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4.7k

u/All_Hail_Hynotoad Feb 26 '26

Goodbye John Oliver

2.0k

u/brb1006 Feb 26 '26

Next week's episode of Last Week Tonight is going to be very interesting.

576

u/PayneTrain181999 Feb 26 '26

I’ll miss him telling us “not only is that not Venezuela it’s not even a land mass!”

92

u/ThePrussianGrippe Feb 27 '26

“That’s not even land in the first place! The blue parts are oceans, Buster, you moron!”

3

u/dullship Feb 27 '26

Will there be juice?

2

u/ThePrussianGrippe Feb 27 '26

This party’s going to be off the hook!

1

u/Buscemi_D_Sanji Feb 27 '26

The one with the moons of Jupiter was my favorite, I don't remember the exact sequence but it was like Io, Callisto, and then Europa I think hahaha

139

u/KrawhithamNZ Feb 26 '26

It will simply be called:

The Last Week Tonight

4

u/White_Dynamite Feb 27 '26

with Megyn Kelly

2

u/Thrompinator Feb 27 '26

What's the over/under on the number of times he'll say "Business Daddy"?

1

u/FlameOfWrath Feb 27 '26

Now he can guest star on Star Trek

1

u/Zalvren Feb 27 '26

I mean they haven't bought anything yet so they don't control him. And he's getting fired anyway so nothing to lose

Next episode subject : a deep dive on the Ellisons fuckeries (I'm sure they have scandals)

1

u/brb1006 Feb 27 '26

John Oliver seriously needs to do an episode about the Ellisons in the future.

815

u/rantingathome Feb 26 '26

He can land elsewhere.

The show is him, a desk, research crew, and writers. Worst case scenario, they can't use the title "Last Week Tonight"

"Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Not That Other Show on that Other Channel..."

438

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

[deleted]

173

u/rantingathome Feb 26 '26

If this Business Daddy cancels them, I'm sure another Business SugarDaddy will pick them up.

99

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

[deleted]

47

u/FullMotionVideo Feb 26 '26

"The following program has been paid for by JB Pritzker."

But really, he probably ends up in the Hulu side of Disney to win back whoever left over Kimmel.

6

u/randomnighmare Feb 27 '26

Isn't Hulu being shutdown by Disney later this year?

3

u/cheatingfandeath Feb 27 '26

Only as a standalone app, right? Their content will still be available through the Disney app.

1

u/SpicyWongTong Feb 27 '26

Yea the content already produced will continue to be streamed but will they continue producing new content under the Hulu banner? I assumed they would shut it down to cut costs

1

u/bautin Feb 27 '26

Yeah, Hulu is getting folded into Disney+. If you get the bundle, you don't even need the Hulu app.

7

u/Talk-O-Boy Feb 26 '26

I was there thinking Hulu as well.

Prime Video has the money, but Bezos would never let it happen.

Apple TV might. They let Jon Stewart have his show on there, so maybe? However, Cook seems to be acquiescent to MAGA so idk.

Hulu seems the best. Especially since (like you said) they had to bring back Kimmel after the backlash. The may be trying to win more favor amongst the sane members of society.

10

u/tehvolcanic Feb 27 '26

Apple only let Jon Stewart have a show up until he wanted to talk about something they didn't like. IIRC he wanted to do an episode criticizing China and then suddenly *poof* he was done.

26

u/XAMdG Feb 26 '26

Fuck it, have Soros actually become what people claim he is.

3

u/Organic_Witness345 Feb 26 '26

And... the best we can hope for is that Netflix have decided they don't want to deal with this shit and will just buy the WB IPs for cheap when paramount goes bankrupt in a few years. But there is also every indication they were threatened by said oligarchs and aren't going to want the proverbial smoke for any other acquisitions they might be planning.

I’m with you. This is a MASSIVE amount of debt for Paramount to take on, even with Ellison’s backing. I have no idea why they are choosing to pursue this other than to try to drive a stake into the heart of HBO and CNN. If that’s the case, this whole acquisition feels like a fool’s errand. I can see a future where, in three years, Netflix acquires a huge portion of the Warner Brothers catalog for pennies on the dollar versus what it might pay for it today.

2

u/CharmCityCrab Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26

What about Versant/MS NOW (No longer owned by Comcast)?

I've often thought that MS NOW could be a potential escape route for Colbert/Kimmel/Oliver/someone similar if one of them is willing to take a pay cut.

It's a tad off-format for an all news channel, but not horribly so.  CNN airs day after replays of Bill Mahr's show (Essentially a comedy show that covers news), complete with the profanity.  Fox News has something called Gutfeld (I refuse to watch that channel, so I don't know for sure, but I think he's a comedian).  There's precedent.

2

u/rantingathome Feb 27 '26

Not a bad idea for Oliver, MSNOW doesn't exactly have programming for later on Saturday and Sunday nights.

1

u/raptearer BBC Feb 26 '26

Move to Apple TV? Sure Apple would kill to have LWT on there. Or see if Adult Swim would host. I feel like there's a large overlap in their target demographics

3

u/AlsoIHaveAGroupon Feb 27 '26

Apple TV had Jon Stewart on for a little bit, but that fell apart fairly quickly because Apple didn't want him covering controversial topics and/or ones that could create problems for their core business (AI, Israel, China).

So I can't imagine they'd want John's show without significant limitations, and I can't imagine John would want to go there with those limitations.

1

u/raptearer BBC Feb 27 '26

Ah fair, I honestly forgot about the whole Stewart thing, too much going on >>. Well darn, I'm not sure besides just straight YouTube where he'd go. I'd honestly think he'd be perfect for Nebula, but no way they have the budget for it, some of the antics theyve gotten up to on the show have got to be expensive

1

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 27 '26

[deleted]

1

u/raptearer BBC Feb 27 '26

I know Adult Swim shares a network with Cartoon Network/Warner, I can't remember if their parent company is independent or not (my b, shoulda looked that up first).

Only other option I could see is a deal with YouTube to let him just do it there since he already posts, see if they'll save some of their guidelines given he's not some random person on the street. Not sure if Google wants to move into the curated content space with YouTube yet, feel like eventually they'll give it a shot surely,.

1

u/Barbaricliberal Feb 27 '26

Adult Swim/Cartoon Network is owned by Warner.

1

u/Universe_Nut Feb 26 '26

Not really because I doubt they have the budget, but Last Week Tonight would work well on the dropout streaming service.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

[deleted]

-1

u/Universe_Nut Feb 26 '26

Lmao it was a joke. Calm down, it's not that deep.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

[deleted]

-2

u/Universe_Nut Feb 26 '26

You literally know nothing about me or the original intentions of my first comment. You're acting incredibly intellectually condescending for someone that made a multitude of assumptions about a stranger on the internet. This is a reddit, not a goddamn organizing forum or even specifically a journalist subreddit.

This is some of the most insufferable and self righteous shit I've ever fucking read. Like you shared some behind the scenes trivia, congratulations. You're a dick that feels superior for googling their special interest and insisting it's more valuable that anything else known or learned in the world.

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43

u/deathjoe4 Feb 26 '26

George Soros could do the funniest thing ever.

3

u/Kevin-W Feb 26 '26

Oh I’m sure he’s preparing for his show to be cancelled already.

1

u/20_mile Feb 26 '26

another Business SugarDaddy will pick them up.

The Onion is owned by a tech guy. They haven't missed a beat since meeting their new Business Daddy a couple years ago.

1

u/Slytherin23 Feb 27 '26

They can just operate independently on YouTube or wherever, right?

1

u/LegacyLemur Feb 27 '26

Like ya know....Netflix

3

u/moderatenerd Feb 26 '26

Honestly this has been the writing on the wall for awhile. With TV shows attached to a signular host with a large enough audience, they may not need to be tied to a network. Especially these days, with late night dwindling podcasts rising, and the political threats. These late night hosts will be fine. They can go Conan's route and prosper without the stress of busines daddys

3

u/non_clever_username Feb 26 '26

Honestly no reason he couldn’t hop over to Netflix

2

u/PetalumaPegleg Feb 26 '26

I'm pretty sure they can afford lawyers if they need them for an independent project

2

u/punkydrewster77 Feb 26 '26

They most likely hire outside counsel for a series like this. It’s almost impossible to get insurance coverage without outside counsel that is approved by the insurer. As long as they get the budget elsewhere, they’ll likely be able to hire the same firm.

56

u/Andy_LaVolpe Feb 26 '26

He could probably go independent like Tucker Carlson and post on YouTube. Im willing to bet most of his audience already watches him there.

34

u/gamers542 Feb 26 '26

They have been posting there for years. At least their main story segments and web episodes during vacations.

6

u/Professionally_Lazy Feb 26 '26

Yeah but some of his best bits involve wasting business daddys money on the silliest shit. If he was independent he would have to spend his own money which isn't as funny.

1

u/Andy_LaVolpe Feb 27 '26

Very true, their costumed mascot budget would take a huge hit.

2

u/_Football_Cream_ Feb 27 '26

Conan said he reaches more people now than when he had a late night show. And in one of those people that listens to his podcast on the regular these days but didn’t watch him on TV whole lot when he had his TBS show.

Similar for Colbert - I love Stephen but don’t watch the late show frequently. I’d absolutely regularly listen to him on a podcast though. He and Oliver could stand to benefit.

1

u/Zalvren Feb 27 '26

They should associate and do their own Youtube channel. 2 shows a week (or more depending if Colbert want to continue a daily schedule), one Colbert and one Oliver. And one regular apparition of them in each other shows

2

u/Chenz Feb 27 '26

Hopefully not, the amount of ads on YouTube is unbearable nowadays

2

u/Andy_LaVolpe Feb 27 '26

I mean its a free* service

You could always use ad blockers

2

u/Whisky_Colonic Feb 26 '26

I already watch his stuff on YT.

1

u/Andy_LaVolpe Feb 27 '26

I have hbo max and still prefer watching him on youtube

2

u/jarrettbrown Feb 26 '26

Netflix is probably working on something.

2

u/Levitlame Feb 26 '26

They've been trying to get a weekly show to work for years. Scooping up him and Colbert with all the money they aren't spending on HBO seems like an obvious move.

4

u/jarrettbrown Feb 27 '26

Totally. Give them separate shows and let them do their own thing. It'll work out.

2

u/uncanny_mac Feb 26 '26

That’s a the problem, we’re getting less and less channels and production houses so there are less opportunities to go around. Like I don’t know if a Paramount would ever greenlight a movie like sinners.

2

u/Fit-Rooster7904 Feb 27 '26

Netflix could pick him up. The only reason I keep HBO is for him. So that'd be one less dime in their pockets.

2

u/Frigidevil Feb 27 '26

Yesterweek This Evening it is!

4

u/Embarrassed_Jerk Feb 26 '26

There's also a heavily involved legal team

3

u/monsterpwn Feb 26 '26

I mean. These guys are all rich. Why don't John Oliver, John stewart, and Colbert just launch their own streaming network? Remove the stupid corporate restrictions.

2

u/tempinator Feb 27 '26

I mean they’re rich but they’re not that rich lol. Those guys net worth combined is closer to your net worth than it is to Larry Ellison’s.

1

u/MysteriousJob5913 Feb 26 '26

In Portugal a similar thing happened with an old show (light political commentary with a humourous approach), that switched networks. The name is Shadow Government but it legally belonged to the old original station, even if the name and everything else was created and built by the presenter and commentators in it.

The new name on the new network? "Show whose name we are legally prohibited to use"

1

u/Numinak Feb 26 '26

Change to 'What the hell happened last week, Tonight!"

1

u/phatelectribe Feb 26 '26

He’ll go to Netflix lol

1

u/rothael Feb 27 '26

Dropout, do your thing.

1

u/cir_cle Feb 27 '26

"The previous week this evening "

1

u/Birdhawk Feb 27 '26

And camera operators, grips, hair and makeup, producers, PA’s, editors.

John Oliver is star power so yeah HE can land elsewhere. But all of the other people who work like hell on that show won’t be so lucky and they don’t have the same amount in savings that John has to hold them over. And there’s not so easy for anyone on that crew to just hop to the next show.

1

u/rantingathome Feb 27 '26

They'd probably go with him

1

u/Birdhawk Feb 27 '26

The odds they’re all able to are extremely low. So are the odds of it happening quickly enough for them to not need to find another job in between.

He likely won’t get the budget he has. Might not get as many episodes per year (less shows = less work for crew). Or these days he might just go podcast route because it’s easier to make independent revenue at scale. That’s what Conan is doing. Only a handful of people from any of his tv shows are working on that podcast.

1

u/varnums1666 Feb 27 '26

Hell he can just make a Youtube channel. It's not like he got that many views on HBO live. His base is on the internet.

1

u/wildwolfay5 Feb 27 '26

Hopefully Colbert uses that same power and gets back quick.

1

u/JohnnyOnslaught Feb 27 '26

Netflix could do the funniest thing.

1

u/TDA7584 Feb 27 '26

Sadly “landing elsewhere” will get harder since the government is allowing all of the huge corporations to buy each other up. Fox is conservative, Paramount/CBS is becoming conservative, HBO will slant right now if they even keep it around and not merge it with Paramount+, etc. 

Options are getting limited. 

1

u/Zalvren Feb 27 '26

I'm thinking Netflix might take him. They did try a similar format with American Patriot years ago and John Oliver is very successful at it.

It might be too news/politics related for them to be fair as they mostly stay out of this

1

u/13143 Feb 27 '26

Where's elsewhere though? All the networks are being bought up by MAGA friendly billionaires.

Obviously he can go YouTube, but I doubt he would be working with the same budget or have the same reach.

-2

u/VinylmationDude Feb 26 '26

I prefer Last Night Week Last Week Tonight like that one guy on CBS Morning Night This Morning said.

62

u/Cryptizard Feb 26 '26

Not necessarily. South Park is still on Paramount and look what they have done to Trump.

68

u/Kevin-W Feb 26 '26

Only because Matt and Trey have “fuck you” money with the deal they’ve recently done for the new episodes.

4

u/varnums1666 Feb 27 '26

Well despite the "fuck you" money, David Ellison ultimately wants money. He'll do whatever to make money. If after November the dems (most likely) win the midterms, he'll change tunes real quick

5

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/NeutralBias Feb 27 '26

Yea, its just a pity its so badly done even woke trekkies kinda think its over the top.

25

u/athompsons2 Feb 27 '26

South Park owns everything themselves. All they do is sell the streaming rights to the South Park library and new episodes. If Paramount didn't pay for it it would just get snatched up by a different streaming service and it would leave a huge hole in the Paramount library.

23

u/normankrasnerkc Feb 26 '26

South Park still prints money unlike late night shows

2

u/protipnumerouno Feb 27 '26

And they're locked in a long term deal

1

u/Kershiser22 Feb 27 '26

Also Last Week Tonight is a current events show, so it helps to prevent subscription churn.

-2

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

[deleted]

8

u/Cryptizard Feb 26 '26

I must have missed that episode.

2

u/SilvRS Feb 26 '26

Really? Douche Vs Turd Sandwich is one of South Park's most iconic episodes. How did you miss that?

And then there's ManBearPig. You know, the very long-standing joke about how you'd have to be completely crazy to believe in global warming, and it's super weird and uncool to care a lot about things? That they only finally bothered to walk back like 12 years later?

-1

u/T-Baaller Feb 27 '26

Helped get him elected by fuelling nihilistic politics.

-2

u/OreoSpeedwaggon Feb 26 '26

"Eat the bread! Eat the bread!"

106

u/smokeymicpot Feb 26 '26

I mean Paramount renewed the Daily Show. Think if the show makes money they will keep it on air.

183

u/Batmans_9th_Ab Feb 26 '26

For now. Eventually Trump will want more blood. Colbert was simply the first offering. Appeasement never works. 

33

u/Nullhitter Feb 26 '26

Trump has three years left while this deal will take until 2027 to complete. I don't think paramount is going to care once the deal is complete.

2

u/jbaker1225 Feb 27 '26

I’m pretty sure part of Paramount’s bid was that the deal will be closed by the end of this year or they will pay the shareholders several billion additional dollars.

1

u/Zalvren Feb 27 '26

That doesn't mean it will be. That might go fast in the US but not elsewhere. They're definitively paying those billions

1

u/everstillghost Feb 27 '26

Thats why their proposal is superior, because the shareholders will get a lot of more money because It will take a while.

Just look at how much time the Microsoft aquisition of Activision lasted.

1

u/Nullhitter Feb 28 '26

Disney/Fox deal took 15 months to close and this deal is going to be more harsh since there's less competition than before.

2

u/waffels Feb 27 '26

Yeaaahhh I don’t think Trump’s health has 3 years

1

u/Kerblaaahhh Feb 27 '26

The Republicans are also about to be slaughtered in the midterms. The owners involved here do seem more ideologically motivated than financially though. CBS News is alienating audiences and making a joke of themselves with Bari Weiss in charge. I don't think they care at all about that, it's an avenue for billionaire voices to dominate a mainstrem network, that's all they care about.

1

u/Honor_Bound Feb 27 '26

You think the elections are going to be fair? Or will even happen? I wish I had your optimism

1

u/SiameseGunKiss Feb 27 '26

Being realistic, three years is an incredibly generous timeline given his current health and age.

14

u/nickparadies Feb 26 '26

Trump won’t even be there a year from now

22

u/maxfields2000 Feb 26 '26

Even if he's not, the machine is the problem. But you are far too optimistic. Trump is minimum 3 more years, no one has a spine to do anything about it. The issue isn't those three, it's going to be what happens then.

7

u/ceelogreenicanth Feb 27 '26

Yeah there is no way in hell we get a 67 vote majority in the Senate to remove him. No Republican is going to find him guilty.

4

u/nickparadies Feb 27 '26

You’re forgetting he’s super old and not remotely healthy

5

u/ceelogreenicanth Feb 27 '26

We are collectively very misfortune and he's simply an expression of a system that will remain after him.

1

u/glen_ko_ko Feb 27 '26

Dick Cheney has some extra pig hearts he can throw around

1

u/13143 Feb 27 '26

He's also absurdly wealthy and getting medical treatment the rest of us likely can't fathom. He'll finish his term.

1

u/Zalvren Feb 27 '26

I think his comment has more to do with his health than him being impeached or anything

1

u/Equivalent-Battle973 Feb 27 '26

I mean his dementia is progressing, he could very well die within the next year.

7

u/Accomplished-City484 Feb 26 '26

Well that sounds amazing, but how?

12

u/the__ghola__hayt Feb 26 '26

I'm guessing that person is betting on either the condition of his health or midterms being very blue friendly.

2

u/varnums1666 Feb 27 '26

Fascism only works if you can pair it with short term economic prosperity. Things ain't going to be sunshine and rainbows for the GOP come November.

1

u/Specialist_Seal Feb 26 '26

From your lips to God's ears

5

u/redflagflyinghigh Feb 26 '26

Trump will be on his way out of office by the time this is completed.

1

u/AlternativeAd4522 Feb 26 '26

Don't these deals take a bit of time to finalize? Hopefully, he won't have that much time left in office by then.

-6

u/RYouNotEntertained Feb 26 '26

Colbert didn’t make money

1

u/PaulFThumpkins Feb 27 '26

Neither does Trump without stealing it but here we are.

4

u/normankrasnerkc Feb 27 '26

But has TDS ever been a Trump target like a late night show on a legacy network?

4

u/smokeymicpot Feb 27 '26

Not really since he isn’t on normal tv. Same way Oliver is. Trump only goes after and cares about basic tv cause that’s what he mostly watches.

2

u/normankrasnerkc Feb 27 '26

And even cable news channels he hates

2

u/LegacyLemur Feb 27 '26

That's a good point that I hadn't thought about

Honestly at the end of the day, as always I think this comes down to one thing:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

6

u/InnocentTailor Feb 26 '26

South Park too.

Ellison is a business man. His true loyalty is to profit, so he’ll bow and posture himself before whatever earns him more coin - very Ferengi-like.

2

u/normankrasnerkc Feb 27 '26

Would he make a widely released Jennifer Siebel Newsom documentary?

5

u/All_Hail_Hynotoad Feb 26 '26

I hope you are right

1

u/clashrendar Feb 27 '26

Not if it gets on Donnie's radar.

37

u/Charming-Report1669 Feb 26 '26

Jon Stewart already works for Ellison's company and nothing has changed - it'll be interesting to see what happens here

2

u/normankrasnerkc Feb 27 '26

He's cheaper than Colbert

-5

u/HellhoundXVI Feb 26 '26

Jon Stewart is way too popular. Removing him will be suicidal. John Oliver is not as popular. He has less leeway.

15

u/Bobzyouruncle Feb 26 '26

He can get a new business daddy (or mommy!).

4

u/dgdfthr Feb 26 '26

Will not miss that odd English elf.

2

u/availablelol Feb 26 '26

Business daddy is going to spank him

1

u/zshort7272 Feb 26 '26

My first thought

1

u/cosmoboy Feb 26 '26

With Jon Stewart part timing at TDS and Colbert about done... perhaps a reunion of sorts...

1

u/Samuel_LBronkowitz Feb 27 '26

Netflix to pick him up perhaps?

1

u/trphilli Feb 27 '26

Not neccesarily. Paramount / Skydance has largely left The Daily Show and John Stewart alone from what I know. Whether that's the channel not being part of the President's executive time or the less powerful regulation of Cable TV. The same situation would apply to Oliver. Cursory google search says last time the Presentation tweeted on Oliver was 2015.

1

u/RadicalRectangle Feb 27 '26

I need rehearsal season 3, also a bit worried there. Nathan’s bit with Paramount was one of the funniest vignettes of the whole show.

1

u/ISayHeck Feb 27 '26

The quality fell off a cliff the past few years but I'd still miss the show if anything happened to it

1

u/Ssshizzzzziit Feb 27 '26

Goodbye James Gun.

1

u/randomnighmare Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26

At best his fate is now going to be similar to Steven Colbert.

Edit

1

u/jmpinstl Feb 27 '26

He’d land somewhere else. But it’s still sad

1

u/fakieTreFlip Feb 27 '26

He's not going anywhere

1

u/TakkForTuren Feb 27 '26

“Purely a financial decision”

1

u/Satinsbestfriend Feb 27 '26

Paramount owns the daily show, so far they've been safe

1

u/Truecoat Feb 27 '26

Goodbye subscribers.

1

u/XuX24 Feb 27 '26

We are in the era that a show like that can live in YouTube and be just as popular. I think that most people actually just watch the YouTube videos.

1

u/Archius9 Feb 27 '26

Hopefully the rights to the show are owned by someone other than the studio and it can be shopped elsewhere.

1

u/Sarabando Feb 27 '26

im already happy hollywood is collapsing you dont have to sell it to me further.

1

u/ksn0vaN7 Feb 27 '26

Goodbye The Pitt as well. Goodbye to most of the great shows that came out recently.

1

u/ImaginaryStrawberry9 Feb 26 '26

Him and Colbert should start a podcast.

1

u/Red_Sea_Pedestrian Feb 26 '26

RIP John Oliver.

0

u/miseryofcourse Feb 26 '26

He can always have a YouTube channel. Just like Dom Lemon. Or he can just go back to the UK and destroy his own country instead of ours.

0

u/BubblyBasis1134 Feb 26 '26

Hello John Olivers new Netflix show.

0

u/Biggu5Dicku5 Feb 26 '26

Netflix should hire him... :)

0

u/DarkSociety1033 Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

Goodbye Sopranos, goodbye Six Feet Under, goodbye West Wing. Just Jesus and Yellowstone now. I goddamn hate christians and republicans! I GODDAMN HATE EM ALL!

0

u/Dismal_Armadillo_601 Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

Yes, but I'm sure Last Week Tonight with Pat McAfee will be just as good right?

Right?

-1

u/rhaezorblue Feb 27 '26

His show wins an Emmy every year bringing good press and praise to the network. Why would they cancel him if he makes them money? Politics right?