Comcast is exploring a potential bid for Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio & streaming business, TheWrap has learned.
Reuters, citing four unnamed sources familiar with the matter, first reported the news that the media giant has retained Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as financial advisors as it evaluates a potential offer. Comcast also has reportedly been granted access to WBD’s data room to review financial information.
Representatives for Morgan Stanley, Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery and Goldman Sachs declined to comment for this story.
Comcast joins Netflix in formally taking a look at Warner Bros. studio and streaming assets. The latter reportedly hired investment bank Moelis & Co. as it evaluates a potential offer. Both Netflix and Moelis declined to comment on that report.
Meanwhile, Paramount has submitted three separate bids to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery, which ranged between $19 and $23.50 per share and were rejected for being too low. Experts who spoke to TheWrap also didn’t rule out Amazon as a potential suitor as the tech giant looks to continue scaling Prime Video and its advertising business.
Comcast president and soon-to-be co-CEO Mike Cavanagh recently said the company’s bar for M&A remains “very high” and that its current strategies are “really sound and durable without M&A.”
But he also acknowledged that the company would “look at things that are trading in the space around our industry” and figure out if there’s ways to add value, suggesting the company would be open to a deal for WBD’s studio and streaming following its own cable network spin off into Versant, which is set to launch as a standalone, publicly-traded company by the end of the year.
Experts previously told TheWrap that, while a Comcast bid for Warner Bros. makes strategic sense, it would face challenges securing regulatory approval from the Trump administration and beating the deep pockets of the Ellison family. But Cavanagh appeared to be less concerned about the feasibility of a bid, saying he thinks “more things are viable than maybe some of the public commentary that’s out there.”
Warner Bros. Discovery chairman emeritus John Malone recently said he sees a scenario in which Comcast shareholders “can have ownership in a company that combines Warner with Comcast, with NBCUniversal.” But he questioned whether Comcast CEO Brian Roberts would be able to have “effective, hard control” of the combined company.
“I don’t know that one. I put a question mark on it,” Malone said in an Oct. 23 interview with Charlie Rose. “But I believe that if Brian is willing to reduce his level of control of the resulting combination, then I think a deal could be done and get through regulatory approval. But these are all fine-tuning things.”
During its third quarter earnings call on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav declined to comment on the company’s ongoing strategic review but said an “active process” is underway. While both Zaslav and Malone have expressed hope for a bidding war, it isn’t guaranteed that one will ultimately materialize.
In addition to continuing on with its planned split into Warner Bros. and Discovery Global, which remains on track for completion in April, the company’s board will also consider separate transactions for those two companies or a deal for the entire combined company. WBD also said it would consider an alternative separation structure that would enable a merger of Warner Bros. and spin off of Discovery Global to its shareholders.
WBD’s studio and streaming business posted revenue growth of 8% to $5.28 billion and profit growth of 58% to $1 billion in its third quarter of 2025. Streaming’s profit climbed 19% to $345 million, while the studios business hit a profit of $695 million, compared to $308 million a year ago, thanks to hits like “Superman” and “Weapons.”
Warner continues to expect that its streaming business will generate a profit of at least $1.3 billion and its studios business will generate a profit of at least $3 billion in 2025. The streaming business also remains on track to reach at least 150 million subscribers by the end of 2026.
