Paramount May Be Forced To Sell Cartoon Network

Paramount is currently under scrutiny by European regulators regarding its buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery. While the two companies would have small market share, regulators are scrutinising the deal due to overlapping assets.

Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Cartoonito would fall under the same umbrella as Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and Nicktoons. Paramount wants to keep all these assets with no plans of closing or spinning them off.

The European Union usually pay close attention to deals if the market share exceeds 30% and while the combined company is set to be under 20%. Fact is pairing Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon already pushes this above 40%.

Paramount had expressed willingness to spin-off or sale it's broadcasting license for Nickelodeon alongside its local feeds viewed in Europe and Africa. This excludes the feeds that would have been viewed in the US, India and Canada.

Whomever is owning the broadcasting license of Nickelodeon, Nicktoons and Nick Jr. would have to license shows like SpongeBob Squarepants and Dora as those would remain under Paramount.

It's also possible that if the European Union gives the greenlight, Paramount would likely form an agreement that excludes Cartoon Network. They wouldn't be involved in the daily operations of the brand or have access to financial records.

But the deal could be a major win for Nickelodeon as this would give it access to IPs such as Uncle Grandpa, Powerpuff Girls and Ben 10. It would also give Nick Jr. more of an edge against Disney Junior with Batwheels and Baby Looney Tunes.

In the same scenario as Nickelodeon, if a buyer were to emerge for Cartoon Network and Cartoonito's European feeds. Paramount will be charging them for The Wonderfully Weird World Of Gumball and the upcoming series, Adventure Time: Side Quests.