Timeline: A history of Warner Bros - from old Hollywood to streaming era
23/04/2026 16:46
Updates paragraph 1 and table with latest developments April 23 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O shareholders backed the company's proposed $110 billion merger with Paramount Skydance PSKY.O, according to preliminary results of the vote on Thursday, but cast an advisory vote against executive compensation plans tied to the deal. With shareholder approval secured, attention now turns to regulatory authorities, with both Washington and London expected to examine the merger's impact on competition. Here is a timeline from the founding of Time Inc and Warner Bros to the company's latest breakup and potential sale.
| Date | Event |
| 1923 | Warner Bros was founded by brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner as a film studio in Hollywood. It revolutionized cinema with the introduction of synchronized sound in films |
| 1969 | Kinney National Company, a conglomerate that later transitioned into media, buys Warner Bros-Seven Arts and later spins off its non-media businesses |
| 1972 | HBO is founded by Charles Dolan with backing from Time. It was the first U.S. subscription-based cable network, offering uncut, commercial-free movies and live sports, pioneering premium cable television |
| 1990 | Time Inc merges with Warner Communications in a $14 billion deal, hailed as a "marriage of content and distribution", creating Time Warner, then the largest media company in the world |
| 1996 | Time Warner merges with Turner Broadcasting, gaining Cartoon Network, CNN, TNT and a vast film library of classic films |
| 2000 | Time Warner merges with AOL, forming AOL Time Warner, the largest merger in history at the time, aiming to marry traditional and digital media |
| 2002 | AOL Time Warner merger begins to unravel as AOL's value collapses with the launch of an SEC investigation, prompted by allegations of accounting irregularities and inflated revenue reports at AOL |
| 2003 | CEO Steve Case resigns from AOL Time Warner |
| 2004 | Time Warner sells Warner Music to a private equity group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. for $2.6 billion |
| 2009 | Time Warner fully spins off Time Warner Cable, which had already been partially separated in 2007, ending its role in cable distribution |
| 2009 | Time Warner spins off AOL |
| 2013 | Time Warner spins off Time, its magazine division, which includes Time, People, Fortune and Sports Illustrated, marking its formal exit from publishing |
| 2016 | AT&T announces acquisition of Time Warner for $85 billion |
| 2018 | AT&T completes its acquisition of Time Warner after regulator approval, renaming it WarnerMedia |
| 2021 | AT&T announces it will spin off WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery Inc to create a new standalone media company |
| 2022 | WarnerMedia and Discovery complete their merger in a $43 billion deal |
| June 9, 2025 | Warner Bros Discovery announces it will separate into two companies — one focusing on streaming and studios businesses, while the second will house its cable TV assets |
| October 21, 2025 | Warner Bros Discovery's board rejects a Paramount Skydance offer of nearly $60 billion, or $24 per share, a source familiar with the matter exclusively tells Reuters. The company says it is weighing a potential sale amid interest from several suitors |
| November 18, 2025 | Warner Bros Discovery's board wants Paramount Skydance to sweeten its bid to $30 per share, valuing the company at $74.34 billion, Axios reports |
| November 21, 2025 | Warner Bros Discovery receives preliminary buyout bids from Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix — who were asked to improve their offers |
| December 1, 2025 | Warner Bros Discovery receives a second round of bids, including a mostly cash offer from Netflix |
| December 4, 2025 | Paramount Skydance accuses Warner Bros Discovery of running an unfair sale process that favors Netflix over other bidders, CNBC reports, citing a letter sent by the newly merged media company |
| December 5, 2025 | Netflix is in exclusive talks to buy Warner Bros Discovery's film and television studios along with its streaming assets after offering $28 per share, a source says |
| December 5, 2025 | Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros Discovery's film and TV studios and streaming division for $72 billion, or $27.75 per share |
| December 9, 2025 | Paramount Skydance makes a hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery in a deal valued at $108.4 billion or $30 per share |
| December 17, 2025 | Warner Bros Discovery's board rejects Paramount Skydance's hostile $108.4 billion bid, saying it failed to provide adequate financing assurances |
| December 23, 2025 | Paramount Skydance amends its offer to buy Warner Bros Discovery to include a $40.4 billion personal guarantee from Larry Ellison |
| January 7, 2026 | Warner Bros Discovery rejects Paramount Skydance's amended hostile bid despite Larry Ellison's guarantee |
| January 12, 2026 | Paramount Skydance files lawsuit to force Warner Bros Discovery to disclose details of its deal with Netflix and plans to nominate directors to Warner Bros Discovery's board |
| January 20, 2026 | Netflix amends its bid to an all‑cash offer for Warner Bros Discovery's studio and streaming units and secures unanimous approval from the Warner Bros board without increasing the $82.7 billion purchase price |
| January 22, 2026 | Paramount Skydance extends its hostile tender offer for Warner Bros Discovery to February 20, seeking more time to win investors |
| February 3, 2026 | U.S. senators grill Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos at a hearing over how the company's acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery would affect competition in the entertainment industry |
| February 5, 2026 | U.S. President Donald Trump says he will stay out of the bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery, a reversal from his comments late last year |
| February 10, 2026 | Paramount Skydance revises its $30-per-share all-cash offer for Warner Bros, adding a 25-cent-per-share fee for every quarter the transaction does not close beyond December 31, 2026. Paramount also says it will fund the $2.8 billion termination fee Warner Bros owes Netflix if the deal falls through |
| February 17, 2026 | Warner Bros rejects Paramount's revised bid and gives the Hollywood Studio seven days to see if it can come up with a better deal to buy the owner of HBO Max and the "Harry Potter" franchise |
| February 24, 2026 | Warner Bros Discovery says it is considering a sweetened bid from Paramount Skydance without disclosing the value of the deal |
| February 24, 2026 | Warner Bros Discovery opens the door to Paramount after its CEO, David Ellison, raises the offer to $31 per share |
| February 26, 2026 | Netflix refuses to raise its offer for Warner Bros after the coveted Hollywood studio said Paramount Skydance's revised $31-a-share offer was superior to its existing deal with the streaming giant |
| February 27, 2026 | Paramount pays the $2.80 billion termination fee that Warner Bros owed Netflix, streaming giant discloses in SEC filing |
| February 27, 2026 | Warner Bros Discovery enters an agreement to be acquired by Paramount Skydance at $81 billion in equity value, in a transaction expected to close in the third quarter of 2026 |
| April 23, 2026 | Warner Bros Discovery shareholders back proposed merger with Paramount Skydance and cast an advisory vote against executive compensation plans tied to the deal |
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