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The Post-Shell WBD-NBCU M&A Fantasy

With Shell out and Hulu in limbo, the fantasy of a Roberts-governed, Zaz-operated, post-Reverse Morris mega merger is more tantalizing than ever.

Does Comcast C.E.O. Brian Roberts’ decision to appoint Mike Cavanagh as Shell’s interim successor suggest that he’s preparing for a hypothetical combination of NBCU with Warner Bros. Discovery?
Is Comcast C.E.O. Brian Roberts preparing for a combination of NBCU with Warner Bros. Discovery? Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
April 26, 2023

It’s been an astonishing 72-ish hours in the media business. First, there was Jeff Shell’s defenestration as the C.E.O. of NBCU in the wake of a sexual harassment complaint filed with Comcast H.R. by CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble. And then there was the practically concurrent firing of Tucker Carlson at Fox News, as first reported by my partner Dylan Byers, and of Don Lemon at CNN, followed by their practically simultaneous hiring of the ferocious litigator Bryan Freedman.