WarnerMedia and Discovery have completed their mega-streaming merger

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WarnerMedia and Discovery will now be able to build the most differentiated content portfolio in the world, thanks to the merger of the parents of HBO Max and Discovery Plus.

The deal that will allow AT&T, WarnerMedia's current owner, to sell its content powerhouse to Discovery and form a new business under the name Warner Bros. Discovery was approved by investors today. The companies said last year that they will be able to invest in more original content for its streaming services, enhance the programming options across its global linear pay TV and broadcast channels, and offer more innovative video experiences and consumer choices.

David Zaslav is the president and CEO of Discovery and will be in charge of the new company during a time of significant change for WarnerMedia. A new leadership team under Zaslav was announced shortly before the deal was finalized.

The agreement will allow AT&T to pay off its debt while positioning Discovery as a more formidable competitor in the streaming and studio space.

It is expected that the two services will eventually be merged into a single service. The deal will allow the two companies to combine WarnerMedia's storied library content of popular and valuable intellectual property with Discovery's global footprint.

This deal is worth something from a value perspective. Anthony Palomba, a professor of business administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, says that most streamers want to buy up precious intellectual property to take on goliaths like Netflix.

The merger makes a lot of sense, according to Palomba.

Both companies specialize in two content businesses that seem to be at odds with each other. The critically acclaimed series include Watchmen and Euphoria. Discovery is best known for its unscripted content, such as ghost hunting and 90 Day Fianc.

That gives Discovery the advantage of being able to offer something for everyone. Should company executives choose to cannibalize one service for the benefit of another, that will only serve to further complicate their respective brand identities.

If it stayed the course of beingcurated, it could have targeted the young urban professionals, the highly educated or the picky consumer. That market is tried-and-true and would stand out more with a consumer decision.

There is a question of how much mega-mergers like the one between WarnerMedia and Discovery benefit consumers at the end of the day. It's a great bargain to give consumers more choice. We are more likely to end up with conflated production ethoses, strange mashups of algorithmically suggested content, and more consumer frustration with finding the stuff to watch. At the end of the day, it's hard not to wonder if the company executives have a consumer-focused direction in mind.

Do the average consumer care that WarnerMedia and Discovery are together? I wonder if these strategic library acquisitions are for the investors. The amount of spending on content that has to happen to look sexy, to look appealing, to grab anyone is a game.

More selection is good. At the cost of becoming cable's successor, it's worth asking what's actually in it for us.