Comcast defies doubters and haters, says it definitely could buy Warner Bros. if it wanted

“You can expect that any view we would have about other media assets that could be complementary to our existing media business would be of the same sort. So in this case, it would be streaming assets and studio assets, since there’s no other parks assets out there,” Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said in an earnings call Thursday morning (per Variety). “So I think in light of that, what we’d be looking for and what we’re going to look like post-divest and spin, I think more things are viable than maybe some of the public commentary that’s out there.”

In other words, don’t count Comcast out of the conversation entirely, though Cavanagh himself admitted “the bar is high” for the company to pursue a major merger or acquisition. “I don’t think M&A is necessary,” he said. Of course, none of these big entertainment CEOs are going to come outright and say they want Warner Bros. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos explicitly said the company has “no interest in owning legacy media networks,” and yet on Friday, Reuters reported that the streamer is actively exploring a bid. It has even hired the same investment bank that advised Skydance Media on its successful bid for Paramount Global to evaluate a prospective offer. So while the CEOs are playing coy, deals are definitely still on the table, and no one is officially out of the running.