Overview
- Netflix co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos released an SEC-filed memo saying the Warner Bros. purchase is pro-consumer and job-preserving, with a commitment to keep releasing Warner Bros. films in theaters.
- The letter cites Nielsen view-share figures asserting a combined Netflix–WBD would move from 8% to 9% in the U.S., below YouTube at 13% and a potential Paramount–WBD tie-up at roughly 14%.
- Paramount Skydance is pursuing an all-cash hostile tender for the entire Warner Bros. Discovery, valued around $108 billion at $30 per share, explicitly including cable networks such as CNN.
- Lawmakers and guilds have urged tough antitrust scrutiny, with senators including Elizabeth Warren and the Writers Guild of America warning the deals could reduce competition and raise consumer costs.
- CNN’s ownership remains uncertain as WBD’s board-backed Netflix asset sale excludes linear networks that WBD planned to spin into Discovery Global, while Paramount has floated combining CNN with CBS News.