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Does anyone else think this is a horrible deal for Sony? I can see this failing for four key reasons: 

1. When was the last large successful media merger? Just look at Disney-Fox, Comcast-Sky, AT&T-Time Warner, Warner Media-Discovery, etc. and there are many more smaller examples. 

2. When is the last time a smaller media company bought a larger media company and was successful? Do you know why this rarely works? If the smaller company was better run, it wouldn't be the smaller company... Yes Sony is much larger than Paramount, but Sony Picture Entertainment is much smaller. If you think SPE is better run than Paramount already, it is only because it doesn't have the toxic assets that it would be acquiring from Paramount (Cable networks, broadcast network, streaming service).

3. If you're buying Paramount because you lack scale, you'd probably be better off selling SPE or continue to run the business as a subscale player. We all know the playbook here if the two combine. Layoff thousands or even tens of thousands of employees, further cut costs by reducing production values and axing riskier/niche projects and lowering overall output. The result is a company smaller than the sum of the parts with lower cost & revenue but higher overall debt load. 

4. How long will it take? Will the merger take over a year to close with regulatory review? Will politician on both sides of the aisle be okay with a foreign company owning a major US news network? How long will it then take to strip the company for its parts as is rumored? This could be years in the making while the rest of the industry continues to evolve around you. Think you can sell CBS and the cable networks? Enjoy losing all the sports deals. Then what do you do with streaming?



Lifetime Sales Prediction - 6/29/2013
Wii U - 38 million
XBOX One - 88 million
Playstation 4 - 145 million