Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. studio and streaming business for US$72 billion
Jamaica Gleaner | 2025-12-05 | Original Article
Netflix struck a deal Friday to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and “Friends,” in a US$72 billion deal. It would bring together two of the biggest players in global television and film.
Beyond its namesake television and motion picture division, Warner owns HBO Max and DC Studios. Netflix is ubiquitous with its vast selection of on-demand content, and its production arm has released popular titles such as “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game.”
“For more than a century, Warner Bros. has thrilled audiences, captured the world’s attention, and shaped our culture," David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement. "By coming together with Netflix, we will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world’s most resonant stories for generations to come.”
The cash and stock deal is valued at US$27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of US$82.7 billion, including debt. The transaction is expected to close in the next 12 to 18 months after Warner completes its previously announced separation of its cable operations. Networks such as CNN and Discovery are not included in the deal.
The bid could draw intense antitrust scrutiny. The merger would bring two of the streaming world’s biggest names under the same ownership.
“Netflix is the top streaming service today. Now combined with HBO Max, it will absolutely cement itself as the Goliath in the streaming industry,” said Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester, a market research company.
One of the big unanswered questions, Proulx added, is whether HBO Max and Netflix would “stay as separate streaming services or combine into a mega streaming service."
But either way, he said, customers could see some price relief in the form of a single subscription bill or bundle promotions, which would be a welcome change as streaming prices continue to rise and consumers feel the pinch of paying for multiple services.
Netflix on Friday maintained that the addition of HBO and HBO Max programming will give its members “even more high-quality titles from which to choose” and “optimize its plans for consumers.”
Others warned that a Netflix-Warner combo could create an even bigger entertainment titan with ramifications for both consumers and people working across the film and TV industry.
Gaining Warner’s legacy studios would mark a notable shift for Netflix, particularly its presence in theaters. Under the proposed acquisition, Netflix has promised to continue theatrical releases for Warner’s studio films, honoring Warner’s contractual agreements for movie releases.
Netflix has kept most of its original content within its core online platform. But there have been exceptions, including qualifying runs for its awards contenders, including this year’s “Frankenstein,” limited theater screenings of a “KPop Demon Hunters” sing-a-long and its coming “Stranger Things” series finale.
Critics say a Netflix-Warner combo would be bad news for people who love to go to movie theaters and for those who work in them. Cinema United — a trade association that represents more than 30,000 movie screens in the US and another 26,000 screens internationally — was quick to oppose the proposed deal, which it said “poses an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business.”
“Netflix’s stated business model does not support theatrical exhibition. In fact, it is the opposite,” Michael O’Leary, CEO of Cinema United, said Friday, urging regulators to look closely at the impacts. "Theaters will close, communities will suffer, jobs will be lost.”
Friday’s announcement arrived after a monthslong bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery. Rumors of interest from Netflix, as well as NBC owner Comcast, started bubbling up in the fall. Skydance-owned Paramount, which completed its own $8 billion merger in August, also reportedly made several all-cash offers.
While Netflix's bid won over Warner's approval, experts stressed that a bumpy regulatory road lies ahead.
“No doubt politics are going to come into play,” Proulx said. He pointed particularly to the Trump administration’s relationship with the family of Larry Ellison, whose son David runs Paramount, and reports of that company’s frustrations over the sale process — both of which, he noted, “can’t be ignored as part of the calculus as to the outcome of all of this.”
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