The Warner Brothers Sale -- Netflix's Bid, Paramount's Counter, and What it Means Going Forward

On Friday of last week, news broke that, after month's of negotiations with different suitors -- Warner Brothers Discovery finally announced they had sold to Netflix for a whopping $82.7 BILLION. This news shook the Industry because of how unexpected it was -- the winds of WBD selling began to swirl in June of 2025 when they split their Streaming & Studious unit from their Global Networks Division. It was predicted by many that Paramount or Comcast (Peacock/NBC) would emerge as the buyer, so Netflix's offer being accepted sent ripples through the industry -- and the fallout of this deal will be an on-going situation to monitor for the next 12-18 months.

This is a situation that was very foreign to me, despite being a big movie and Industry buff. So I wanted to take the time to kind of "dumb down" this entire situation -- which isn't meant to insult the readers here -- but is what I wish someone would've done for me! Because while some people may see this headline and not think much of it -- this deal, and the potential fall out from it -- will completely shape the world of movies, television, streaming, and studio production as we know it.

The Basics -- What the Hell did Netflix Buy?

David Zaslav -- the CEO of Warner Brothers Discovery as of 2022 -- made the decision in June of 2025 to split the assets at WBD. These split into the "Streaming & Studios" -- which is Warner Bros Films, HBO, HBO Max, DC Studios, etc. -- and the "Global Networks" -- which are networks like CNN, TNT, HGTV, Food Network, etc. Essentially separating into the movies and streaming side, and the Cable Television side.

That's a big deal because that makes the Streaming & Studios side an extremely valuable asset to streaming services and media companies. Nothing against the people in your life that love watching CNN and HGTV -- but companies like Paramount, Comcast, and Netflix have no interest in those cable assets. But what they do have interest in is the Warner Bros library of Movies and Television -- as well as the future projects that will flow through there.

And it is an absolute arsenal of assets in that WB Library -- which is why it's such a mouth-watering proposition for a streaming service to purchase. Think about how well the show Suits did when Netflix added it to their service -- it was the most-watched show of 2023 with over 58 BILLION minutes viewed.

Now think about some of the great shows on HBO -- Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, The Wire. There's a very good chance we see a similar boom when those are added. Not to mention the library of WB and HBO films being added -- there are massive franchises that Netflix will be getting in this deal from Harry Potter to the DC Universe to Game of Thrones, which are all franchises with past success and are currently being expanded upon with new projects and built-in fanbases.

So from Netflix's Point-of-View, the separation at WBD made the asset much more valuable for what they do, and they'll nowhave the control over the way future projects are released.

Key Players, Government's Role

What's important to understand about this entire process is the fact that almost nobody expected Netflix to be the company to come away with this deal. By most accounts you'll find, many people considered Paramount to be the favorite to land this deal -- and their co-founder Larry Ellison was the main driver of those predictions.

Larry Ellison essentially has more money than God -- he's a billionaire, considered a Giant in the Technology space, former CEO of Paramount/Skydance and now his son David is the CEO there, and is well-known for building Oracle, a company he is the current Executive Chair and CTO of.

Larry also has a close relationship with Donald Trump, and this was a driving factor in the expectation that Paramount would buy WBD. In a deal like this between massive corporations, the government has to play a role in the deal getting across the finish line. So when one of the key stakeholders has a close relationship with the current president -- some of that red tape is easier to maneuver around.

So the fact that Netflix -- who's CEO is Ted Sarandos -- emerged as the buyer Friday, many anticipated a statement from Trump, which while delayed, has finally come through. And he actually did praise Sarandos for doing a great job in getting the deal done -- but the most notable statement was that this could pose a problem from an antitrust standpoint.

The reason for this: Netflix is already a massive player -- if not the leader -- in streaming. This purchase would make them all the more powerful, so much so that the Department of Justice must review and see if this deal will harm competition too much and create a monopoly for Netflix. Antitrust laws are in place to ensure fair competition in market, and this deal could be deemed too detrimental to that market competition to go through.

Paramount's Counter-Attack

I listened to Matt Belloni's "The Town" Podcast in trying to gather info about this whole situation, and his Friday Podcast had some great insight for what Paramount might do in response to the deal with Netflix being announced.

He talked about how Ellison and Paramount basically had a 2 options to counter with:

1. Wait for the regulatory review from the DOJ

   1. If the DOJ doesn't deem this a fair deal or is in violation of antitrust -- the DOJ can sue and stop the merger. Paramount waits to see if the DOJ stops it -- then they slide in themselves.

2. Be Proactive -- go nuclear

   1. Go directly to the shareholders, prepared to offer more money, call out their CEO not doing due diligence, or sue under fraud that it was a "rigged process"

And wouldn't you have it -- on Monday, Paramount launched a "hostile bid" to buy Warner Bros. They've gone $25 Billion over Netflix's offer -- totaling over $108 Billion which would include buying ALL of Warner's assets -- cable TV included (the Global Networks unit mentioned earlier).

Paramount is claiming that Netflix's deal is inferior and are making promises to release 30+ movies theatrically annually to "satisfy the needs of the moviegoing public" (something Netflix hasn't come right out and declined to do -- but has been heavily speculated to eliminate theatrical releases, or at least minimize them heavily).

So Larry Ellison clearly believes he was railroaded by Netflix/WBD in their agreement to the deal Friday -- has decided he doesn't care what it costs and will pay whatever it takes to acquire this asset -- and is sending his Hail Mary attempt in this counterbid.

This is essentially an episode of Succession Season 4 playing out in real life -- which if the deal goes through, you'll be able to watch on Netflix in 2026.

If Netflix's Deal Goes Through -- What Does it Look Like?

If Netflix is to win this deal and acquire Warner Brothers -- I don't think we'll see massive changes right away. The television projects I think will, for the most part, continue as they have been -- I don't foresee a drop-off in quality of TV projects and think they'll continue to be pumped out at the same tempo. The only question I have is whether they'll continue week-to-week episode drops, or conform HBO shows to the full season dumps Netflix likes to do.

From a movie standpoint -- I don't foresee Netflix completely taking away theatrical releases of the movies that will be coming from WB. Netflix still does theatrical releases for their own movies, just in very limited windows -- they like the 2-3 week model, then add it straight to the platform. It's clear in the long-term that Sarandos doesn't believe the moviegoing experience is the way of the future -- and I think 3-5 years down the line, we'd see almost all of the movies being produced from there as direct-to-streaming.

There's also the question of what would happen to HBO and HBO Max? Would these be completely rolled into Netflix and dismantled -- or would they continue operating separate from Netflix, but the profits would roll up to Sarandos and co.?

I think in the long-term, the HBO Max app will not be a thing. I think Netflix may have a section/category in their app where you can pull up all HBO movies and TV shows -- but I don't foresee them keeping a separate app when they know they could put it all on their own.

Closing Thoughts

As I've said ad nauseum -- there is absolutely no guarantee that this deal goes through and Netflix will land WB. We have the Paramount counterbid, a DOJ Review very likely, and difference of beliefs in the stakeholders at Netflix between those in the Government that will be passing this deal through.

But whether it's Netflix or Paramount that ends up absorbing Warner Brothers -- this is a negative situation for most people involved. The only positive spin I can think is the fact that many of the future Warner Bros projects are going to be given a bigger spotlight and platform. This is good for the artform itself (in theory), and could also lead to more money being put in to projects, and the attraction of bigger stars and better creative minds.

But the negatives are staggering to me. I love going to the movies, and it's very clear that Netflix's long-term plan is to seriously limit the moviegoing experience. WB accounts for 25% of the movies that go to theaters in a given year, so Direct-to-streaming all those films would dismantle the theatrical industry all together in 3-5 years -- the "death of cinema" if you will. I have core memories seeing movies in a theater, and I would really hate for that experience to go extinct.

On a more grounded and humane level -- a merger like this is going to lead to heavy, HEAVY lay-offs for people working at Warner Bros, and potentially at Netflix/Paramount. Especially if Ellison and co. get the deal at Paramount, this is an ownership group known for "trimming the fat" and conducting layoffs. They'll spend whatever it takes to get the asset -- but there will be a lot of gutting internally.

And another concern I have about this big-picture is how prices are going to sky-rocket for whatever streamer wins this bidding war. Netflix is already jacking up their prices every 6 months and enforcing the single-user accounts, but Paramount isn't going to spend $100+ Billion and not pump up their own prices if they do. Another situation where the common folk like us get screwed while the billionaires make more billions.

For me personally, if you'd ask me who I prefer to win this bidding war between Netflix and Paramount -- it'd be like having to choose between Hitler or Stalin.

One wants to eliminate the moviegoing experience as we know it and thinks that watching Lawrence of Arabia on an iPhone screen is the same experience as seeing it on a big-screen (Netflix -- Sarandos cited that example specifically from his son when defending direct-to-streaming).

One is in bed with the President and the Republican party as a whole, thinking they're entitled to a deal because of those relationships and is ready to fire hundreds/thousands of people once they have the asset (Paramount).

I think it's a lose-lose situation however you slice it -- but since this will be an ongoing process for the next year or two, maybe things will change as the process forges on.