Netflix’s ‘nightmare’ deal to buy Warner Bros. is raising alarms

Netflix’s blockbuster deal to buy Warner Bros. is quickly stirring criticism

On Friday, Netflix announced it struck a deal to purchase the film studio and streaming business of Warner Bros. Discovery, ending a highly-competitive bidding war. It said it will pay $27.75 per share for the divisions, making it an $82.7 billion deal. Netflix’s bid was a mix of cash and stock, the companies said.

The announcement first raised eyebrows from former Warner Bros. chief executive Jason Kilar. He said in a Friday morning social media post that “if I was tasked with doing so, I could not think of a more effective way to reduce competition in Hollywood than selling WBD to Netflix.

The deal is still subject to regulatory approval, and it’s likely to set off an antitrust fight. Opponents of the sweeping agreement may well include Paramount, a rival movie studio which also sought to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. It sent a letter to the company on Monday warning that a Netflix agreement would “entrench and extend Netflix’s global dominance in a matter not allowed by domestic or foreign competition laws.”

Skepticism of the deal quickly spread to Capitol Hill. One prominent Senate Democrat was blunt about the deal’s potential to crush competition among streamers. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called it “an anti-monopoly nightmare” in the making.

“A Netflix-Warner Bros. would create one massive media giant with control of close to half of the streaming market — threatening to force Americans into higher subscription prices and fewer choices over what and how they watch, while putting American workers at risk,” Warren said in a Friday statement.

Alvaro Bodoya, a former member of the Federal Trade Commission, compared the deal to a “horror movie.”

“What’s to be done here?,” Bedoya wrote in an X post. “Normally, the Department of Justice would intervene and block the merger. But I’m not staying up for that.”

— Chris Morris contributed to this article.