Warner Bros. Rival Bids Put Spotlight on Flagging Cable Networks

While Netflix Inc. and Paramount Skydance Corp. vie for President Donald Trump’s blessings in their competing bids for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., investors have an irony to consider.

The valuation of faltering cable TV networks like CNN, TNT and Discovery — among the TV industry’s least-coveted properties today — is much of what separates Paramount’s hostile takeover bid from Netflix’s friendly offer.

Paramount kicked the bidding war into high gear Monday, going directly to stockholders with a $30-a-share all-cash bid that values all of Warner Bros. at $108.4 billion, including debt. It’s aiming to derail Netflix’s agreement announced ...