Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery FINALLY Complete & Is Midcentury Modern Cringe?

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

We all love connecting over a video call, a quick text or that group chat that literally never sleeps. And right now, AT&T's got a deal worth texting the group about. You can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with iPhone trade-in, any condition. It's got the ultimate Pro camera system and a big leap in battery life. So you can turn this deal into a long-lasting connection. Connecting changes everything. Requires trade-in of iPhone 14 or higher, excluding iPhone 16E, an eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply. Subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details.

Neal Freyman (0:34)

Good Morning Brew Daily show. I'm Neal Freyman.

Toby Howell (0:37)

And I'm Toby Howell.

Neal Freyman (0:38)

Today, how Paramount's deal for Warner Bros. will reshape Hollywood.

Toby Howell (0:41)

Then the war in Iran is bad for gas prices, but great for EV sales. It's Tuesday, October 6th. Let's ride.

Neal Freyman (0:55)

In one of the world's greatest rivalries, the tables appear to be turning. Cats are becoming more popular than dogs. According to the research firm Package Facts, for the first time on record, there are more US households that own kittens than puppies. Back in 2014, there were 1.8 households with a young dog for every household with a young cat. Last year, it was 0.9421.

It's not that kitty ownership has surged though, but more that people are going dog free. The number of American households with dogs has fallen 5% since 2019 as cat ownership has been stable, to which I say, great, more animals that will ignore me.

Toby Howell (1:32)

So that's the shot. Here's the chaser. A new study also found that countries with more cats are happier. So all these cats are making people pretty jolly. However, while reading about the positive effects of cats, so I was surprised to learn about a negative one, the Washington Post wrote, Companion animals like cats and dogs are generally positive for well-being, but with cats there is a downside. They carry the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which can affect humans and has been linked to road rage, depression and other mood changes. Is this well-known amongst cat owners? I had never heard of this. Snuggling your cat can potentially give you a parasite. Again, the data from 93 countries found that there was a net positive association but did not know about this potential danger. Maybe another thing in the dog owner's corner that may swing the pendulum back that way.

Neal Freyman (2:19)

I asked a dog owner whether they would consider getting a cat and they were like, nope, he's in the house.

Toby Howell (2:24)

It's different. Well, yeah.

Neal Freyman (2:26)

It was like that was the bottom line. I think that was the deal breaker right there. But it seems like more people are opting for kitties over puppies. All right, now a word from our sponsor Intuit. Toby, you know how I've always been passionate about enterprise resource planning?

Toby Howell (2:42)

Yeah, you talk about it a lot during meetings at happy hours during the impromptu speech you gave at my wedding.

Neal Freyman (2:48)

And I won't apologize for caring deeply about the problems facing finance teams and CFOs. They're stuck with a system that cost them a fortune and still won't let them create a report themselves. It's not right.

Toby Howell (2:59)

Well, thankfully, there's the Intuit ERP for that.

Neal Freyman (3:02)

Exactly. Your team runs one close. However many entities you have, they build their own reports, no consultant required. And getting started doesn't take over your year, all without the legacy ERP baggage.

Toby Howell (3:14)

You've been waiting all day to say that.

Neal Freyman (3:16)

To learn more, head to intuit.com/erp.

That's intuit.com/erp.

Three years ago, David Ellison was known as a NEPO baby movie producer who achieved a modicum of success with Top Gun Maverick. Today, he'll be coronated as the Prince of Hollywood when Paramount closes its deal for Warner Bros. Discovery in the industry's biggest M&A deal of all time, $111 billion. The combined company, known as Skydance, offers Legacy Entertainment's last best shot of fending off a tech sector that's encroached on its turf. As co-CEO of Skydance, Ellison will lord over two major movie studios, two major streaming services, HBO Max and Paramount Plus, a group of cable channels, two influential news operations, CNN and CBS, an IP including the DC superhero universe, Harry Potter, Yellowstone and Nickelodeon. It caps a stunning rise for Ellison, who has reverse Pac-Man-ed his way to the top through ever bigger acquisitions. First, he bought the larger Paramount for $8 billion last year. Then he outmaneuvered Netflix to gobble up an even bigger monster, Warner Bros. Discovery. But at what cost? $111 billion is far more than Ellison has in the bank account, and to cinch the deal, he's taking out loans and getting help from Dad. Oracle's Larry Ellison, one of the richest people in the world, who's bankrolling the merger with $46.7 billion in equity financing. The combined company will be saddled with debt of over $82 billion, casting a financial cloud over Ellison's ambitions right from the get-go. Toby, now that the deal is sealed, the hard part is just getting started.