Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. studio and streaming business for $72
billion
[December 06, 2025] By
WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS and MATT OTT
NEW YORK (AP) — 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.
If approved by regulators, the merger would put two of the world’s
biggest streaming services under the same ownership — and join Warner's
television and motion picture division, including DC Studios, with
Netflix's vast library and its production arm, which has released
popular titles such as “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game.”
The proposal could draw intense antitrust scrutiny, particularly for its
effects on movie making and streaming subscriptions.
“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.
The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it
a total enterprise value of $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. Not included in the deal are networks such as CNN and
Discovery.
Will streaming services stay separate or combine?
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.
Of course, that all depends on whether the deal goes through. Netflix on
Friday maintained that the addition of HBO and HBO Max programming will
give its members “even more high-quality titles" 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. Critics said the consequences
could include job losses and a reduced variety of content.
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.
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.
“Our mission has always been to entertain the world,” Ted Sarandos,
co-CEO of Netflix, said in a statement, adding that merging with Warner
will “give audiences more of what they love.”
David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, added that merging with
Netflix “will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the
world’s most resonant stories for generations to come.”
Critics question potential effect on movie theaters and filmmakers
Critics said a Netflix-Warner combo would be bad news for moviegoers and
for people who work in theaters. Cinema United — a trade association
that represents more than 30,000 movie screens in the U.S. and another
26,000 screens internationally — was quick to oppose the 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. "Theaters will close, communities will suffer, jobs will be
lost.”
The Writers Guild of America sounded a similar alarm and called for the
merger to be blocked.
The Producers Guild of America said the Netflix deal must prove that it
protects workers' livelihoods and theatrical distribution. “Legacy
studios are more than content libraries — within their vaults are the
character and culture of our nation," the union added.
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The Netflix logo is shown in this photo from the company's website
on Feb. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
 Warner Bros., which is 102 years
old, is one of the “big five” studios left in Hollywood. If the
Netflix sale goes through, the remaining legacy studios would be
Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures and Universal.
The Netflix-Warner deal also sent shock waves through Washington, on
both sides of the aisle.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a longtime antitrust hawk, said
the proposed merger “looks like an anti-monopoly nightmare.” And
Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican and close Trump ally, said
the deal “raises serious red flags for consumers, creators, movie
theaters and local businesses alike.”
Friday’s announcement followed a monthslong bidding war for Warner.
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.
Paramount seemed like the front-runner for some time, and unlike
Netflix or Comcast, it was reportedly vying to buy Warner’s entire
company, including its cable networks and news business.
Beyond combining two of Hollywood's legacy studios, that would have
brought Paramount-owned CBS and Warner's CNN under the same roof.
Such sizeable consolidation would have vastly reshaped America's TV
media landscape, and perhaps raised questions about shifts in
editorial control — as seen at CBS News both leading up to and
following Skydance's purchase of Paramount.
Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment
Friday from The Associated Press.
Regulators and politics could decide fate of deal
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 Warner's sale process —
both of which, he noted, “can’t be ignored as part of the calculus
as to the outcome of all of this.”
Christina DePasquale, a Johns Hopkins University professor who
specializes in antitrust issues, said the government might be
skeptical of a streaming behemoth controlling both the production
and distribution of content.
Warner Bros. Discovery, which was formed just three and a half years
ago, announced its intention to split its streaming and studio
operations from its cable business back in June. The move arrived as
more and more consumers continue to “cut the cord” and rely almost
entirely on streaming.
The company outlined plans for HBO, HBO Max, as well as Warner Bros.
Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group and DC Studios, to
become part of a new streaming and studios company. That is what
Netflix is now acquiring. Meanwhile, networks such as CNN, Discovery
and TNT Sports and other digital products will make up a separate
cable counterpart called Discovery Global.
Warner signaled that it was open to a sale of all of parts of its
business back in October, citing “unsolicited interest" it had
received. Now that it's agreed to Netflix's bid, Discovery Global is
set to become a new publicly traded company by the third quarter of
2026.
___
Ott reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky
in New York, Matt Brown in Washington and Lindsey Bahr in Pittsburgh
contributed to this report.
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