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“Netflix struck a deal Friday to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind ‘Harry Potter’ and HBO Max, in a $72 billion deal that would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.” AP News
The left is critical of the deal, worrying that it will harm consumers.
“The studio was founded in 1923 by four Jewish immigrants — brothers Harry, Jack, Sam and Albert… Standing out from their peers, the brothers took social and political risks in hopes of enlightening viewers, from condemning the American justice system in 1932’s ‘I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang’ to warning about encroaching xenophobia in 1937’s ‘Black Legion’ and rallying home front audiences with 1942’s World War II classic ‘Casablanca.’…
“Groucho Marx once called Warner Bros. ‘the only studio with any guts.’ Under the leadership of Harry, the eldest brother, Warner became the first studio to pull its films out of Germany and to attack the Nazi regime in its productions… The studio has seemingly perfected a mix of crowd-pleasing popcorn films with riskier fare in the 21st century… Preserving that spirit is not just good for business, it’s essential to America’s cultural legacy.”
Chris Yogerst, Los Angeles Times
“The scale in itself should give regulators pause. Netflix will spend roughly $18 billion this year on content, and Warner Bros. will spend around $20 billion. In a very inclusive analysis that counts sports rights and similar categories, KPMG estimated that the top 12 U.S. media and entertainment companies together spent $210 billion in 2024, so this merger would roughly double Netflix’s share of industry spending, to 18 percent from 9 percent…
“Defenders of the deal could argue that consumer prices won’t rise. But antitrust law is not limited to mergers’ effect on prices. Regulators can object to mergers that reduce consumer choice even when prices remain flat, as we saw in the proposed merger, since blocked, of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines. The consideration of consumer choice is particularly relevant in a culture-producing industry…
“When two of the most important sources of premium programming are combined, the marketplace loses an entire programming philosophy: a unique sensibility; a separate development culture; an independent set of tastes, relationships and risk thresholds. Having fewer bidders generally means that fewer shows get made. Fewer visions means a narrower range of storytelling.”
Roy Price, New York Times
“At the end of the day, tech has swallowed up American entertainment for good. MGM is owned by Amazon; Disney is basically a giant bundle of streamers; YouTube TV has enough clout to shake down older TV giants when making deals… The old system certainly had its flaws, but the Silicon Valley disruption of the old TV-and-movies model has long left the ‘Peak TV’ era behind, with prestige titles giving way to generic background viewing and creative staffs giving way to slop factories.”
Nitish Pahwa, Slate
The right is critical of the deal, largely due to Netflix’s political bias.
The right is critical of the deal, largely due to Netflix’s political bias.
“Netflix head Ted Sarandos has previously spoken about movie theaters being an ‘outdated’ concept, and that he believes his company is saving Hollywood… In an era where getting audiences to return to theaters has become harder and harder, Warner Bros. will now be controlled by a company that doesn't want them to…
“And when you cheapen your content and make it feel more disposable and replaceable, often, audiences agree. Maybe Netflix will learn their lesson, bringing their content up to the standards of traditional studios. Valuing the theatrical experience, putting quality over activism and leaning into what made Hollywood great in its golden era. Thus far, however, there's little to suggest that's likely. And it's going to make an already struggling industry that much worse.”
Ian Miller, OutKick
“Netflix is one of the most self-consciously woke companies in America. It injects progressive activism into nearly every show, series, or documentary it creates–and it isn’t subtle about it… A Netflix–WBD merger would be the largest cultural consolidation in modern American history. Netflix already dominates global streaming, shaping what the world watches and increasingly how the world thinks…
“WBD, through HBO Max and its unmatched premium catalog, is one of the only companies big enough to challenge it. WBD is not simply ‘another option;’ it is the marketplace’s leading counterweight–the one platform with the brand, subscriber base, and storytelling power to keep Netflix in check. Eliminating that rival won’t just give Netflix market share. It will also give Netflix near complete narrative control.”
Tim Young, Daily Signal
“We need America once again to produce films and series that reflect the values upon which the nation was founded… We also need to return to speaking about honor and truth, the value of family and the blessing of parenthood, sincere love, the age-old meaning of friendship, the pride of being a soldier, principled politics, classical art, philosophy… The culture war has not yet been won, and it is more important than the political one.”
Itxu Díaz, American Spectator
Some argue, “Paramount says the deal will increase Netflix’s dominance in streaming, and that’s undoubtedly true… But Netflix and HBO Max customers could benefit from lower prices if their services are bundled. That could also benefit other streaming services since consumers, if they are paying less for Netflix and HBO Max, might be willing to pony up for another subscription. Competition in media is dynamic, and costs of switching are also low for consumers.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
A libertarian's take
“Fundamentally, Netflix is in the streaming business, not the theater business, and while Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has promised that he’ll keep putting Warner Bros. films into theaters, he won’t promise they’ll be there very long… Great news if you’d rather watch the latest hot release on the couch; bad news if you like the theater experience, because shortening release windows will probably cannibalize ticket sales to the point of extinction. Eventually, that probably means the end of the feature film as a major art form…
“I understand Hollywood’s sadness and trepidation and anger about losing such a culturally central art form. I, too, feel that something will be irretrievably lost. But that denouement is coming even if antitrust regulators block the deal… Inflation-adjusted domestic box office revenue is down 40 percent since 2019, and the alternative to our new mega-streamer isn’t that people go back to the theaters. It’s that they turn to whatever else is on their small screens: video games, YouTube, TikTok.”
Megan McArdle, Washington Post
Record-breaking 75-year-old mother bird prepares to nest.
Popular Science
