Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. and HBO, which includes the legendary TV and movie studio and assets like the HBO Max streaming service, for $72 billion, plus debt. The deal could reshape Hollywood, but first faces a tough regulatory review process around the world. CNN’s Brian Stelter reports.Surprise! The attempted Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger didn't and probably will not happen. That means that John Oliver, who did not want to work for Paramount and the Ellisons, avoided that possibility, at least for now. CNN also escaped that fate so far, because they're not part of the deal. Netflix does not want to get into the cable TV business, so CNN and the rest of the Warner Brothers-Discovery channels, other than HBO, which Netflix is buying, remain together to be spun off as a separate entity, Discovery Global. That at least postpones what I was worried about in September: "CBS News and CNN merging would likely result in a more conservative news outlet, which would make Donald 'Hoover Cleveland' Trump get out of the deal's way." He and Pam Bondi's Department of Justice might not be so accommodating with a Netflix-Warner Brothers merger.
There are others who are opposing the deal, as PBS NewsHour explains in What Netflix's deal to buy Warner Bros. means for one of Hollywood's oldest studios.
Netflix has struck a nearly $83 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. and HBO Max, beating out Paramount and Comcast after a bidding war. If finalized, it would unite the world’s largest streamer with one of Hollywood’s oldest studios. The move raises questions about the future of theatrical releases and concerns about market concentration. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Matthew Belloni of Puck.While this deal is good for Netflix and Warner Brothers-Discovery's management and shareholders, it may not be good for theater owners, actors, and writers, who stand to lose money or at least have smaller paychecks. It may not be great for directors, either, although more artistically than financially; they want their movies shown on the big screen and think streaming them at home diminishes them, literally.
Netflix is playing this deal up as good for consumers. In terms of variety of content and convenience, it probably will be. However, it will probably make subscriptions go up, although viewers like my wife and me, who subscribe to multiple streaming services, might ultimately save money as we will subscribe to one service instead of two. Just the same, the commenters on CNN's video are already grousing about their Netflix subscriptions going up to pay for this deal.
I'm sure I'll have more to write about this deal and the legal hoops it will have to jump through over the next year and more. In the meantime, stay tuned for another evergreen educational entry tomorrow.
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