ALL INPredictions
Last updated Nov 29, 2025
Prediction
Friedberg
← Back to hostEpisode
Friedberg @ 00:54:07Inconclusive
The consolidation of Paramount/Skydance with a potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, combined with Ellison-linked involvement in TikTok, will mark the beginning of a multi‑year restructuring that significantly changes ("rewrites") the global media landscape, with new dominant players and business models emerging from this Ellison-centered empire.
And so I would kind of look at this story as like a beginning of an unfolding of something that may rewrite the entire media landscape.View on YouTube
Explanation

As of November 30, 2025, the preconditions Friedberg described are largely in motion, but his prediction is explicitly about a multi‑year restructuring, so it’s too early to know if it will “rewrite the entire media landscape.”

  • Paramount/Skydance consolidation: Skydance’s takeover of Paramount Global closed on August 7, 2025, creating “Paramount Skydance” under David Ellison’s control, with significant cost‑cutting and strategic reshaping already under way. (en.wikipedia.org)
  • Potential Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition: Paramount Skydance has made and is preparing further bids for Warner Bros. Discovery, and WBD is running an auction process (including other bidders like Comcast and Netflix). WBD has already rejected at least one Ellison‑backed offer, and as of late November 2025 no sale to Paramount Skydance has closed; WBD is still soliciting improved bids and weighing options including a breakup. (cnbc.com) This means the “potential acquisition” Friedberg ties into his thesis remains uncertain.
  • Ellison‑linked involvement in TikTok: In September 2025, an Oracle‑led consortium fronted by Larry Ellison agreed to take roughly an 80% controlling stake in TikTok’s U.S. business, with Oracle running U.S. data and the recommendation algorithm under a new American entity. (reuters.com) Reporting has already framed Ellison as emerging as a major media‑tech power player, connecting his backing of Skydance/Paramount with his role in TikTok US. (forbes.com)

However, Friedberg’s claim is that this combination will, over multiple years, “rewrite the entire media landscape” with new dominant players and business models centered on the Ellison empire. Only a few months have elapsed since both the Paramount Skydance merger and the TikTok deal framework; the Warner Bros. Discovery piece is not yet resolved, and the long‑term competitive and business‑model impacts are inherently not observable over such a short window. Thus, while early moves align with the setup of his thesis, whether they actually lead to the sweeping, Ellison‑centric restructuring he describes cannot yet be determined.