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Trump says the big Netflix-Warner Bros merger could be a problem  heres why

Date:
Mon, 08 Dec 2025 13:34:14 +0000

Description:
Could be a problem: Trump wants to personally help decide the Netflix-Warner
Bros. Deal  and hes already highlighted a big reason to block it.

FULL STORY

Days after Netflix announced it had won the bidding war over Warner Bros.
Discovery  thanks to an agreement valued at $82.7 billion  it appears that 
the deal may hit a sizable roadblock: Donald Trump. The US President said the
combined size of the duo could be a problem. 

Speaking at an event at the John F Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the
United States President remarked that Netflixs already very big market share
would likely go up by a lot if the deal was allowed to go ahead. 

He isnt wrong either.

Current market share estimates suggest Netflix and HBO Max (WBDs streaming
service) control a combined 34% of the US streaming market  which is above 
the level of control the US Department of Justices antitrust rules would 
allow after a merger. These figures, however, crucially dont include YouTube. 

Its believed that Netflix's lawyers will argue that Netflix and WBDs market
share is much smaller when you take Googles platform into account  with stats
showing YouTube has the highest video streaming viewership share by some
margin. They may also try to downplay WBD as a streaming rival and instead
focus on its utility as a production studio and content library.

Personal politics

Beyond market share considerations, the Presidents comments about wanting to
have an unprecedented level of involvement in the negotiation have led some 
to speculate if more personal leanings could play a part in decision-making. 

Trump has had some very positive things about Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos,
calling him a great person who has done one of the greatest jobs in the
history of movies.

However, reports also suggest (via The Guardian ) that President Trump would
have preferred Paramounts offer to buy WBD to win out. David Ellison is the
chief executive of Paramount, and the deal to buy WBD was backed by his
father, Larry Ellison, a staunch Trump ally -- Ellison is also at the
center of the US TikTok buyout. 

David Ellison directly referred to having a Trump card (via The Independent )
in his pocket to help a possible Paramount WBD acquisition go through ahead 
of the Netflix agreement being chosen, and more recently, Paramount described
the Netflix deal as "unfair." 

None of this is to say personal politics will be a key consideration for the
administration, but it adds further fuel to the fire of speculation that
Netflixs deal could ultimately get blocked.

To block or not to block 

All that said, weve already covered these arguments and more in our analysis
with experts on what the Netflix and Warner Bros. deal could mean for you .
TL;DR: more content on one platform, but price hikes are likely, and working
in the entertainment industry could become even more challenging. 

So to some extent, while Trump's involvement isnt par for the course, its not
unreasonable for Netflix to have already considered all of the possible ways
the deal could collapse, and despite these pitfalls, its so confident things
will be approved that the deal includes a $5.8 billion breakup fee (via The
Hollywood Reporter ).

This wouldnt just pay out if Netflix walks away; Netflix pays this fine if 
the deal doesnt go through for any reason. Thats a lot of money to offer if 
it isnt reasonably certain that regulators will approve the acquisition. 

Were still very early days in a deal that isnt expected to close until the 
end of 2026  potentially not even until were into 2027. That is to say, we
have a lot of time to see some twists and turns play out before we know if 
HBO Maxs name change saga will stop at Netflix or something else entirely. 

======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/streaming/netflix/trump-says-the-big-netflix-warner-
bros-merger-could-be-a-problem-heres-why

https://tinyurl.com/3jehrsm2

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