Mergers and Acquisitions in the Media Industry - Taking the Merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery as Examples

With the rapid development of the global economy, competition among multinational corporations has become increasingly fierce. To gain a competitive edge in the international market, enterprises must enhance their core competitiveness and expand their global business footprint. Therefore, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have become a key strategic tool for enterprises to accelerate development. In the development process of the media industry, M&A activities are also an important means to integrate resources and enhance market competitiveness. The merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, as well as cases such as Warner's acquisition of Detective Comics (DC), provide rich samples for studying the successful experiences and potential risks of M&A in the media industry. This paper, through case analysis of M&A of different companies and their final results, and by using the event study method and case study method, deeply analyzes the related issues of M&A in the media industry. It aims to provide warnings for the M&A behaviors of current media giants to avoid similar risks and offer valuable references for industry participants.