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- Paramount faces ticking debt bomb, Trump tries to blow up Anthropic, and we meet the company behind Curiosity Stream's clever AI training gambit
Paramount faces ticking debt bomb, Trump tries to blow up Anthropic, and we meet the company behind Curiosity Stream's clever AI training gambit
Also in our weekly look at all things technology, media and telecom, we check in on Formula 1's drive to thrive as the season kicks off Down Under, and we examine the Advertising Research Foundation's influential 'ARF-DASH' tally of addressable U.S. TV homes
Daniel Frankel & David Bloom
March 02, 2026
In partnership with
Check out our latest Next TMT Talks video podcast featuring special guest Chris Keevill, founder and CEO of Versos, the tech vendor supporting Curiosity Stream’s wildly clever new AI training business.
How state-level resistance could push Paramount’s final WBD purchase price well above $31 a share
It’s finally decided -- recently minted Paramount Skydance, with a market capitalization of around $15 billion, last week persuaded the board of Warner Bros. Discovery (market cap ~$70 billion) that its highly leveraged buyout offer of ~$111 billion is superior to Netflix’s earlier accepted bid.
Netflix walks away with a $2.8 billion breakup fee, courtesy of hostile actor Paramount, which ends up with ~$100 billion of combined debt once the deal closes, or as much as 7x EBITDA.
That debt could end up being quite a bit higher, thanks to the $0.25-per-share “ticking fee” Paramount agreed to pay WBD for every quarter beyond September 30 for which the deal isn’t closed.
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