President of the United States, Donald Trump, has expressed very strong doubts about the acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix, which was partly reasoned by the merger being ‘a problem’ as it could give one company huge power in the market. He pointed out that Netflix has a huge market share already and its combination with Warner’s even including HBO Max and the studio catalogue will take the dominance even higher.
What Did Trump Say?
Trump said that he is expecting to participate in the decision making process of the government regarding the approval of the deal, hinting at the need for antitrust regulators to do a deep dive into the transaction. He, however, talked highly of the co CEO of Netflix calling him talented and recognizing Netflix’s success in the film and streaming industry but still held the worry ‘there’s a lot of market share…it could be a problem.’ Should the deal go through, Netflix will have access to classical film franchises, HBO Max, and Warner’s production resources that can very well alter the whole entertainment and streaming landscape. Yet Trump’s comments layer regulatory and political uncertainty on what had already been one of the largest media industry deals in recent years.
Netflix Acquisition of Warner Bros
The $83 billion acquisition which Netflix has proposed of Warner Bros. Discovery, if it goes through, will be one of the largest media deals ever and will possibly change the global streaming scene completely. On the one hand, the merger of Netflix’s stronghold with Warner Bros. and the other biggies’ concomitant library, that includes HBO, DC, and major film studios, would be the biggest gain ever in content power and market extended reach for Netflix. On the other hand, such a scenario has given rise to serious antitrust worries.
