Why Netflix and Paramount are fighting over Warner Bros. — and how Trump could decide who wins
- - Why Netflix and Paramount are fighting over Warner Bros. — and how Trump could decide who wins
Andrew RomanoDecember 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
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Last Friday Netflix announced its plan to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business for $83 billion. The boards of both companies approved the deal.
But three days later Paramount launched what’s known as a hostile takeover bid, bypassing the board of Warner Bros. Discovery and offering its shareholders $30 per share — the equivalent of $108 billion — to sell the company.
Now the future of one of Hollywood’s most storied studios — home to HBO, Friends, DC Comics, Looney Tunes and Harry Potter — is up in the air. So is the future of Hollywood itself, according to industry experts.
And President Trump is putting himself right in the middle of it (even though politicians are not supposed to influence the regulators who review major corporate deals).
“I’ll be involved in that decision,” a tuxedoed Trump told reporters as he posed for red-carpet photos at the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday.
Here’s everything you to understand the ongoing Warner Bros. battle.
Why is Warner Bros. Discovery even selling?
With its top streaming service and valuable library of content, it’s no surprise that Warner Bros. Discovery is an attractive target for entertainment behemoths like Netflix and Paramount. (Comcast, the cable company that owns NBCUniversal, also participated in the weekslong bidding process.) Consolidation is the name of the game right now as media and tech companies try to win the so-called streaming wars. Warner Bros. Discovery is also saddled with billions of dollars in debt from previous mergers, so a lucrative sale makes sense for shareholders.
How did we get here?
Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount have been exploring a merger on and off since 2023. But the idea didn’t really take off until after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved Paramount’s merger with Skydance in July. Skydance Media was founded in 2006 by David Ellison, the son of tech billionaire Larry Ellison. The Ellisons have recently positioned themselves as allies of Trump.
In September, various outlets reported that Paramount was weighing a takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery; in October, Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly rejected several bids from Ellison’s company. Then Netflix swooped in and won the bidding war.
When launching its hostile takeover attempt earlier this week, Paramount accused Warner Bros. Discovery of single-mindedly favoring Netflix by “pursuing an inferior proposal” that would lead to “a challenging regulatory approval process.”
How long does Warner Bros. have to respond?
In a statement, Warner Bros. Discovery said it had received Paramount’s bid and would respond within 10 business days. The company advised shareholders not to take any immediate action — adding that, so far, nothing had changed.
“The board is not modifying its recommendation with respect to the agreement with Netflix,” the statement read.
On a conference call Monday, Ellison said he had told Warner Bros. Discovery that Paramount’s proposal was not its “best and final” offer.
What happens if Netflix wins?
If the current agreement holds — and if regulators ultimately approve — Netflix would take over Warner Bros. streaming and studio business. Important: Netflix would not take over the Warner Bros. Discovery cable unit; instead, a separate public company controlling channels like CNN, TNT and Discovery would be carved out by the third quarter of 2026.
Critics have two concerns about Netflix acquiring a major competitor like Warner Bros. The first has to do with size. Netflix is the No. 1 streaming service; HBO-Discovery is No. 3 or 4. Merging them would “eliminate a head-to-head rival,” as Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor who specializes in antitrust issues, recently told the New York Times. “That hurts consumers by making price increases easier, and it hurts sellers of films and TV by combining bidders.”
The second concern — which is prevalent in Hollywood — is that Netflix swallowing one of the few remaining major film studios would effectively “kill moviegoing” (and many of the jobs that go along with it). Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos has long been indifferent to theatrical releases, claiming in April that theaters are “an outmoded idea” for most people and that “the consumer [is] trying to tell us … that they’d like to watch movies at home.”
“Right now, you should count on everything that is planned on going to the theater through Warner Bros.” to “continue to go to theaters,” Sarandos said on a conference call Friday — the key phrase being right now.
What happens if Paramount wins?
Paramount is also a movie studio and streaming business, so experts have the same antitrust concerns here: less competition leading to higher prices and lower-quality content.
But unlike Netflix, Paramount is going after Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable unit — including CNN. Paramount Skydance already acquired CBS News earlier this year, putting Free Press founder Bari Weiss, a prominent critic of “woke” culture, in charge. Paramount also announced that it would be cancelling its long-running Late Show with host Stephen Colbert, a frequent Trump critic, shortly before Trump’s FCC approved the Skydance merger.
The worry here is that controlling two major news outlets will give the pro-Trump Ellisons an inordinate amount of influence over U.S. politics.
On Monday, the Wall Street Journalreported that “during a visit to Washington in recent days, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump’s ire, people familiar with the matter said.”
“Trump has told people close to him that he wants new ownership of CNN as well as changes to CNN programming,” the Journal added.
A private equity firm founded by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is also an investor in the Paramount offer.
What does Trump have to do with all of this?
Usually the president avoids meddling in major corporate mergers. But Trump is different. As the New York Times recently reported, Trump has “worked to reshape the relationship between government agencies and the White House” — and he “has often relished pitting rivals against each other, from his ‘Apprentice’ TV boardroom to the West Wing.”
That appears to be what he is doing now with Netflix and Paramount. Sarandos secretly visited Trump at the White House in November; Ellison was spotted in the presidential box with Trump at Sunday’s Kennedy Center Honors.
“I know the companies very well,” Trump said on the red carpet. “I know what they’re doing. But I have to see. I have to see what percentage of [the] market they have.”
Asked about his relationships with Sarandos and Ellison, the president insisted that “none of them are particularly great friends of mine,” adding that he “just wants[s] to do what’s right.”
But he also took to Truth Social the following day to criticize Paramount over a 60 Minutes interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene that aired on Sunday on CBS.
“They are no better than the old ownership,” Trump wrote. “Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!”
The question now is whether Trump continues to send signals about which way his administration is leaning — and how those signals affect the shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery, who will be deciding what to do next, in part, based on whether they expect Trump’s regulators to approve the transaction.
Source: “AOL Money”
