The Dividend Cafe Media Mergers and Dividend Growth
Jan 16, 2026
Dive into the intriguing world of media mergers and acquisitions through the lens of dividend growth investing. Discover how Netflix's proposed buyout of Warner Brothers Discovery plays into a larger narrative of historic deals like AOL-Time Warner. Learn about the rise and fall of Viacom and how Comcast embodies successful dividend discipline. The discussion emphasizes that growing dividends reflect management's confidence and protect shareholder interests, making them a key to long-term financial stability.
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AOL–Time Warner's Long Value Collapse
- David L. Bahnsen recounts the AOL-Time Warner saga as a major destructive merger in 2000.
- He traces Time Warner's subsequent buyouts and spinoffs that erased huge shareholder value over decades.
Dividend Growth Signals Corporate Recovery
- Time Warner doubled market cap and its dividend over ~a decade after the AOL debacle.
- Bahnsen links consistent dividend growth directly to corporate recovery and value creation.
Viacom/Paramount/CBS's Equity Erosion
- David L. Bahnsen outlines Viacom's acquisitions of Paramount and CBS and the subsequent collapse in equity value.
- He shows how decades of M&A and spinoffs left the combined assets worth far less than prior peak valuations.
