Streaming Giants Unite: Netflix Acquires Warner Bros. Discovery
In a move that will reshape the industry as we’ve known it, Netflix has crossed the first hurdle and will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
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Deadline reports this is official. Netflix is buying WBD for a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion at $27.75 a share and “a total equity value of $72B.” Netflix’s co-CEO praised the deal. “Our mission has always been to entertain the world,” he said.
“By combining Warner Bros.’ incredible library of shows and movies – from timeless classics like Casablanca and Citizen Kane to modern favorites like Harry Potter and Friends – with our culture-defining titles like Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters and Squid Game, we’ll be able to do that even better,” he continued.
“Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling,” Sarandos added.
Netflix came short of Warner Bros. Discovery’s demand for $30 a share, but they must have worked it out. The streaming giant beat out Comcast and the very eager Paramount-Skydance (who cried foul and favoritism after a few rounds of bidding) to nab assets including DC, HBO, and Max.
Sarandos’s fellow co-CEO, Greg Peters, also had nice things to say about this acquisition. “Warner Bros. has helped define entertainment for more than a century and continues to do so with phenomenal creative executives and production capabilities,” he began.
“With our global reach and proven business model, we can introduce a broader audience to the worlds they create – giving our members more options, attracting more fans to our best-in-class streaming service, strengthening the entire entertainment industry and creating more value for shareholders,” Peters continued.
He also added that taking ownership of WBD would “improve our offering and accelerate our business for decades to come.”
CEO of WBD, David Zaslav, thinks he made a good deal, too, and has touted its benefits. “Today’s announcement combines two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world to bring to even more people the entertainment they love to watch the most,” he said.
What this means for DC Studios and HBO Max remains to be seen. Many suspect Netflix will flip the table and start over while merging the WBD streamer into the main service. Imagine DC and HBO each becoming just another tab on the Netflix homepage.
Others think we will see the return of the Snyderverse due to Zack Snyder’s recent hyper-nostalgia for his glory days on Instagram, as well as the old “sell DCEU to Netflix” tag on X. This hope persists despite Netflix canceling all of Snyder’s projects they greenlit after his Warner exit.
Something could be brewing behind the scenes, but for now, the fervor for bringing back the Snyderverse looks like little more than the latest hype train pulling into the Shining Time Station that Camp Snyder has become.
Meanwhile, James Gunn and his DCU could chug along unabated, even though there are doubts about its profitability. Superman is ground zero for that discussion, and it might not augur good tidings for Supergirl next year.
In the meantime, Netflix now faces years of regulatory hurdles and red tape, now that the entity has closed a deal it wasn’t initially so enthusiastic about. Many film industry insiders and politicians around the world are unhappier with this transaction than anyone.
Thus, the winds might shift again overnight before this update has a chance to settle.
