Last week, David Ellison's Paramount Skydance agreed to delay the closing of its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. While AT&T and Time Warner fought in court and then struggled to integrate their operations, an emboldened Disney moved with greater strategic clarity. HBO Max did not launch until May 2020. The service later moved through a confusing sequence of identities — HBO Max, Max and ultimately HBO Max again — reflecting a strategic uncertainty that its competitors were happy to exploit. The transaction contained fundamental flaws, and AT&T eventually reversed course by off-loading WarnerMedia and combining it with Discovery.