Could Superman and SpongeBob SquarePants soon live under the same roof? It’s a “maybe,” as the Ellison family is reportedly eyeing Warner Bros. Discovery for its next M&A swing. 

The recently merged Paramount Skydance is prepping a majority-cash bid for the media conglomerate, according to The Wall Street Journal. The offer hasn’t officially been made yet, and is still being worked out with an investment bank—but the Journal report resulted in WBD shares skyrocketing more than 30% yesterday, while Paramount also saw a 15% lift. 

The bid would be backed by Paramount’s new CEO David Ellison and his father, Larry Ellison, one of the richest people in the world. Notably, the bid is expected to be for all of WBD, including its cable networks as well as its streaming and studios businesses. The David Zaslav-led giant has been planning to split the struggling network side of the business into a separate entity next year.

Chris Colombo, founder and chief strategist of Florida-based consultancy Brighter Path and a former Mattel exec, says the combined kids portfolios of Paramount and WBD could be “one of the most interesting parts of the puzzle” were the bid to move forward. WBD brings legacy power through Cartoon Network, Looney Tunes and its DC superhero brands, while Paramount has Nickelodeon in its trove, featuring strong kids brands like PAW Patrol, SpongeBob SquarePants and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Looney Tunes

“For retailers, it could mean ‘aisle takeovers’ where Nickelodeon and WB characters sit side-by-side in the same program,” Colombo tells Kidscreen. “That’s a lot of leverage.”

But he also underlines the risk of “franchise crowding” when so many major kids IPs come together. “It raises questions about how the company prioritizes PAW Patrol vs. Baby Looney Tunes, or TMNT vs. Teen Titans,” he says. “Historically, consolidation can lead to [a situation] where a few mega-brands dominate and mid-tier properties struggle for investment. How the merged company balances its vault will determine whether we see new hits emerge, or just more weight behind the existing big brands.”

FOX alum and Wondery podcast network founder Hernan Lopez says the combined entity could prove to be a streaming force that could corner a bigger share of kids and family viewers—which is something that Colombo echoes.

In fact, Lopez’s media consulting firm Owl & Co just crunched the numbers from Netflix’s latest What We Watched engagement report covering the first half of this year with an interesting takeaway. “Paramount accounts for 11% of kids & family viewing hours on Netflix, and WBD for 5.3%,” he shares. “Combined, they would get very close to the top supplier—NBCUniversal—and could decide to make a more deliberate play for kids and family viewership on their own streaming service.”

The news of this possible bid arrives barely a month after Skydance finally closed its merger transaction for Paramount Global, which was delayed as the companies sought FCC clearance. This new potential deal, meanwhile, is already inviting antitrust concerns. US consumer advocacy group Public Citizen has urged the Trump administration to strike down this potential merger to prevent “a dangerous further concentration in the news and entertainment industry,” co-president Robert Weissman said in a statement.