Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland, and Eurosport in Europe, has entered exclusive talks with Netflix over a potential takeover.
According to reports on Friday morning, a deal could be agreed within a week, in a move which would transform the film and TV landscape.
However, for cycling fans thinking that their method of watching sport might change for the third year in a row, the deal will be for WBD’s streaming and studio business, not for its networks, which includes TNT Sports and Eurosport.
The company was separated in June this year into two separate business: streaming and studios, which is the part expected to be bought; and global networks. This paved the way for this deal, which could see Netflix’s streaming platform and global reach combined with WBD’s films and TV, including HBO.
Netflix was in competition with Paramount Skydance and Comcast, which owns Universal Studios and Sky, although the bidding could still reopen. WBD shares closed at $24.54 on Thursday, giving the company a market value of $61 billion, and Netflix has reportedly offered between $28 and $30 a share, which means its bid is somewhere in the region of $70 to $75 billion.
For the deal on its streaming and studios to be completed, WBD would have to finish its spin-off of its channels, like TNT. Paramount had been thought to be the frontrunners, and it was thought that the US giant was keen to include all of the company in a takeover.
Cycling has been a very small part of the WBD empire since Warner Bros Discovery was formed in 2021 after a merger of AT&T and Discovery.
Discovery had bought into Play Sports Group, the company that owned the GCN operation since its inception on YouTube, in 2017 and increased its shareholding in 2019. In 2021 it took a 100% stake in the company in a deal that reportedly valued it at £70m.
That included the YouTube channel, and the then newly-created GCN+, the streaming service which comprehensively covered professional cycling with a dedicated platform and app.
However, at the end of 2023, the GCN+ streaming service and app were closed, with Warner Bros. Discovery moving the television rights to its Eurosport, Discovery+ and Max, leaving Play Sports Network responsible for just the YouTube channel.
Then, this year, Eurosport was closed down in the UK with TNT Sports becoming the home of live cycling. It meant the sport was placed within a broader sports subscription package, priced at £30.99 a month – more than four times the GCN+ offering.
It is unclear what the future holds for cycling on WBD, via TNT Sports and Discovery+, but if, as expected, Netflix win the takeover bid, fans will continue to have to use TNT to watch cycling in the UK and Ireland, and Eurosport in Europe.
