For the right price, you can now own one of the most recognizable logos in the world.
Many of us were weaned on the ‘WB’ logo, proudly displayed to introduce the latest Bugs Bunny or Coyote & Roadrunner cartoon. The company also had other things going on, including live action movies with real actors.
The studio struck it rich in 1927 with the first “talking” movie, The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson, and again two years later with the release of On with the Show! — the first all-color all-talking feature film.
The company got its start in 1903 when three Warner brothers — immigrants from Poland — began showing a beat-up copy of The Great Train Robbery in towns on the east coast. This was back in the days when immigrants were important to the American economy. This led to the purchase of a movie theater in Pennsylvania, and then the start of a movie distribution company in California, and later the opening of a movie studio in Hollywood before Hollywood was really Hollywood.
This was followed by several profitable movies featuring a dog named Rin Tin Tin. Then, The Jazz Singer, and Captain Blood, and Casa Blanca, and Blazing Saddles, and The Exorcist, and Barbie, and all the rest. Literally hundreds of movies, some of which made a profit.
And TV shows, too. And cartoons. And music. And news coverage. And streaming video.
All the things that make life worth living.
It’s been a wild ride for Warner Bros., to say the least, with lots of leadership and ownership changes, to include a merger with Time Inc., and buying and selling studio properties, and merging with Turner Pictures, and then Time Warner was bought by AT&T, and later got packaged with Discovery Inc. to form a company called Warner Bros. Discovery.
Which is now officially for sale.
But I had to give some history, for reasons that will become clear as we look into the future, and plan to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States of America in 2026.
From a story by By Tatiana Siegel, Brent Lang, Matt Donnelly in Variety.com, November 4:
Sources say that President Donald Trump has greenlit plans to host one of the first UFC fights under Paramount’s $7.7 billion deal with the MMA league, on the lawn of the White House. Dignitaries from around the world will attend a dinner and then head to the Octagon, the eight-sided ring where the main event will play out. Trump and UFC CEO Dana White are spearheading the telecast. The discussed date is June 14, 2026, which coincides with Trump’s 80th birthday.
Why are we mentioning Paramount in a story about Warner Bros.?
Because David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance and son of Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison, really, really, really wants to own Warner Bros. Discovery and has made multiple offers over the past couple of months.
Who wouldn’t want to own Warner Bros.? Especially if your daddy is a billionaire and friends with Donald Trump, and if you really, really, really like owning movie and entertainment companies.
The Warner Bros. board rejected Ellison’s $58 billion bid and opened the company to other possible bidders such as Amazon, Netflix and Comcast.
Warner Bros. Discovery announced in June that it was planning split into two companies… a streaming and studios company to be called Warner Bros. which would include movie properties and streaming service HBO Max… and a global networks company called Discovery Global, which would house CNN, TNT Sports and Discovery, among other businesses.
But this decision is on hold, because someone might want to buy the whole enchilada. Who might that someone be?
Call me a dreamer.
Here in Archuleta County and Pagosa Springs, our elected leaders have been talking for 20 years about the need to diversify our economy. We’re stuck in this retirement-tourism hamster wheel that is going nowhere fast. Low wages, unaffordable housing, failing infrastructure, overpriced restaurants, a struggling health care system. We need an infusion of profitable corporate energy that can carry us to the 22nd century.
But the talk goes nowhere. Our elected leaders are like children lost in the woods, looking for a gingerbread house.
We should buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
There, I’ve said it.
Now it’s up to our local leaders.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.