{"id":176962,"date":"2025-12-10T02:36:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/176962\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T02:36:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:36:08","slug":"why-netflix-and-paramount-are-fighting-over-warner-bros-and-how-trump-could-decide-who-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/176962\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Netflix and Paramount are fighting over Warner Bros. \u2014 and how Trump could decide who wins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Friday Netflix<\/a> announced its plan to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s studio and streaming business for $83 billion. The boards of both companies approved the deal.<\/p>\n

But three days later Paramount launched what\u2019s known as a hostile takeover bid, bypassing the board of Warner Bros. Discovery and offering its shareholders $30 per share \u2014 the equivalent of $108 billion \u2014 to sell the company.<\/p>\n

Now the future of one of Hollywood\u2019s most storied studios \u2014 home to HBO, Friends, DC Comics, Looney Tunes and Harry Potter \u2014 is up in the air. So is the future of Hollywood itself, according to industry experts.<\/p>\n

And President Trump is putting himself right in the middle of it (even though politicians are not supposed to influence the regulators who review major corporate deals).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be involved in that decision,\u201d a tuxedoed Trump told reporters as he posed for red-carpet photos at the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything you need to know to understand the ongoing Warner Bros. battle.<\/p>\n

Why is Warner Bros. Discovery even selling?<\/p>\n

With its top streaming service and valuable library of content, it\u2019s no surprise that Warner Bros. Discovery is an attractive target for entertainment behemoths like Netflix and Paramount. (Comcast, the cable company that owns NBCUniversal, also participated in the weekslong bidding process.) Consolidation is the name of the game right now as media and tech companies try to win the so-called streaming wars<\/a>. Warner Bros. Discovery is also saddled with billions of dollars in debt<\/a> from previous mergers, so a lucrative sale makes sense for shareholders.<\/p>\n

How did we get here?<\/p>\n

Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount have been exploring a merger on and off since 2023. But the idea didn\u2019t really take off until after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved Paramount\u2019s merger with Skydance<\/a> in July. Skydance Media was founded in 2006 by David Ellison, the son of tech billionaire Larry Ellison<\/a>. The Ellisons have recently positioned themselves as allies of Trump.<\/p>\n

In September, various outlets reported that Paramount was weighing a takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery; in October, Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly rejected several bids from Ellison\u2019s company. Then Netflix swooped in and won the bidding war.<\/p>\n

When launching its hostile takeover attempt earlier this week, Paramount accused Warner Bros. Discovery of single-mindedly favoring Netflix by \u201cpursuing an inferior proposal\u201d that would lead to \u201ca challenging regulatory approval process.\u201d<\/p>\n

How long does Warner Bros. have to respond?<\/p>\n

In a statement, Warner Bros. Discovery said it had received Paramount\u2019s bid and would respond within 10 business days. The company advised shareholders not to take any immediate action \u2014 adding that, so far, nothing had changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board is not modifying its recommendation with respect to the agreement with Netflix,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

On a conference call Monday, Ellison said he had told Warner Bros. Discovery that Paramount\u2019s proposal was not its \u201cbest and final\u201d offer.<\/p>\n

What happens if Netflix wins?<\/p>\n

If the current agreement holds \u2014 and if regulators ultimately approve \u2014 Netflix would take over Warner Bros. streaming and studio business. Important: Netflix would not take over the Warner Bros. Discovery cable unit; instead, a separate public company controlling channels like CNN, TNT and Discovery would be carved out by the third quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n

Critics have two concerns about Netflix acquiring a major competitor like Warner Bros. The first has to do with size. Netflix is the No. 1 streaming service; HBO-Discovery is No. 3 or 4. Merging them would \u201celiminate a head-to-head rival,\u201d as Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor who specializes in antitrust issues, recently told the New York Times<\/a>. \u201cThat hurts consumers by making price increases easier, and it hurts sellers of films and TV by combining bidders.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second concern \u2014 which is prevalent in Hollywood \u2014 is that Netflix swallowing one of the few remaining major film studios would effectively \u201ckill moviegoing<\/a>\u201d (and many of the jobs that go along with it). Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos has long been indifferent to theatrical releases, claiming in April that theaters are \u201can outmoded idea\u201d for most people and that \u201cthe consumer [is] trying to tell us \u2026 that they\u2019d like to watch movies at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, you should count on everything that is planned on going to the theater through Warner Bros.\u201d to \u201ccontinue to go to theaters,\u201d Sarandos said on a conference call Friday \u2014 the key phrase being right now.<\/p>\n

What happens if Paramount wins?<\/p>\n

Paramount is also a movie studio and streaming business, so experts have the same antitrust concerns here: less competition leading to higher prices and lower-quality content.<\/p>\n

But unlike Netflix, Paramount is going after Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s cable unit \u2014 including CNN. Paramount Skydance already acquired CBS News earlier this year, putting Free Press founder Bari Weiss, a prominent critic of \u201cwoke\u201d culture, in charge. Paramount also announced that it would be cancelling<\/a> its long-running Late Show with host Stephen Colbert, a frequent Trump critic, shortly before Trump\u2019s FCC approved the Skydance merger.<\/p>\n

The worry here is that controlling two major news outlets will give the pro-Trump Ellisons an inordinate amount of influence over U.S. politics.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> that \u201cduring a visit to Washington in recent days, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he\u2019d make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump\u2019s ire, people familiar with the matter said.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump has told people close to him that he wants new ownership of CNN as well as changes to CNN programming,\u201d the Journal added.<\/p>\n

A private equity firm founded by Jared Kushner<\/a>, Trump\u2019s son-in-law, is also an investor in the Paramount offer.<\/p>\n

What does Trump have to do with all of this?<\/p>\n

Usually the president avoids meddling in major corporate mergers. But Trump is different. As the New York Times recently reported, Trump has \u201cworked to reshape the relationship between government agencies and the White House\u201d \u2014 and he \u201chas often relished pitting rivals against each other, from his \u2018Apprentice\u2019 TV boardroom to the West Wing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That appears to be what he is doing now with Netflix and Paramount. Sarandos secretly visited Trump at the White House in November; Ellison was spotted in the presidential box with Trump at Sunday\u2019s Kennedy Center Honors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the companies very well,\u201d Trump said on the red carpet. \u201cI know what they\u2019re doing. But I have to see. I have to see what percentage of [the] market they have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about his relationships with Sarandos and Ellison, the president insisted that \u201cnone of them are particularly great friends of mine,\u201d adding that he \u201cjust wants[s] to do what\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he also took to Truth Social the following day to criticize Paramount over a 60 Minutes interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a> that aired on Sunday on CBS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are no better than the old ownership,\u201d\u00a0 Trump wrote. \u201cSince they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!\u201d<\/p>\n

The question now is whether Trump continues to send signals about which way his administration is leaning \u2014 and how those signals affect the shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery, who will be deciding what to do next, in part, based on whether they expect Trump\u2019s regulators to approve the transaction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last Friday Netflix announced its plan to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s studio and streaming business for $83 billion.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[73299,146,85,46,7041,400,4523,1009,411,2223],"class_list":["post-176962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-david-ellison","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-larry-ellison","tag-netflix","tag-paramount","tag-president-trump","tag-tv","tag-warner-bros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}