ZAP // yousafbhutta / Pixabay; WBD; HBO Max
The streaming giant Netflix will buy part of the assets of the film and television studio Warner Bros Discovery, including HBO and the HBO Max platform, in a deal worth almost 83 billion dollars, in what will be the largest acquisition in the entertainment sector in the last decade.
After winning a bidding war with Comcast and Paramount, Netflixalready the largest streaming platform in the world, will acquire the studios and streaming assets of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), for about 83 billion of dollars, paid in cash and shares, the two companies announced this Friday.
According to , as part of the operation, the streaming giant will retain some of the WBD’s most valuable assetsincluding its film and television studio, HBO and the platform HBO Max.
WBD’s cable channels, including information giant CNNTNT, TBS and Discovery, will be separated from the group before the deal is completed — a plan released in June.
The merger of vast content libraries of the two companies will reinforce Netflix’s ability to “entertain the world”, he wrote Ted Sarandosco-executive director of Netflix, in a statement cited by the Post.
David Zaslav, President and CEO of WBD, said the deal will “ensure that people around the world will continue to enjoy the most memorable stories for generations to come.”
The transaction, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is expected to close within 12 to 18 months, they said.
“A disaster” for Hollywood
The acquisition, the largest in the entertainment sector since Disney bought Fox for $71 billion in 2019, will still have to be authorized by North American regulators.
However, the possibility of Netflix staying with Warner Bros, the company behind hits like “Casablanca”, “Harry Potter” and “Friends”, is generating controversy in the cinematographic world.
According to, James Camerondirector of “Titanic”, classified the purchase as “a disaster”while a group of some of Hollywood’s top producers is putting pressure on Congress to oppose the deal.
“I couldn’t imagine a most effective way to reduce competition in Hollywood than selling WBD to Netflix,” Jason Kilarformer CEO of Warner, on his profile on X.
In the center of outrage in Hollywood is precisely Ted Sarandos, according to the AFP agency. The controversial Netflix executive, for whom the era has come to an end in which spectators flocked to cinemas, earned the pet hate of the so-called “traditional” cinema industry.
Many industry veterans feel that theater premieres are essential to maintain the prestige and attractiveness of the sector, in clear contrast to the streaming content seen by a spectator sitting on the sofa at home or on mobile devices.
The streaming wars and the decline of traditional television have provoked important strategic reorganizations between the major players in the North American industry, which is witnessing a consolidation in the sector: to compete with Netflix and Disney, competitors are seeking to join forces.
This is the case of the giant Amazon, which acquired the mythical MGM studio in 2021 for 8.45 billion dollars, guaranteeing a catalog of more than 4,000 films, including those from the “James Bond” and “Rocky” sagas.
In the race to buy WBD there were also the operator Comcast and Paramount Skydance, by Larry Ellisonone of the richest men in the world and a close ally of President Donald Trump.
Paramount is led by David EllisonLarry’s son, who some analysts predict could come to directly pressure the White House to block the merger between Netflix and Warner Bros, with the argument that the operation would reduce competition in the sector.
However, as one user in a comment on Jason Kilar’s post, “selling Warner to Netflix would certainly lessen competition, but selling it to Skydance (where the studio would be combined with Paramount) or Comcast (where it would be combined with Universal) would not further reduce competition?”.
