Analysis: Netflix-Warner Bros reactions and warnings

Industry figures have cautiously welcomed the prospect of Netflix’s $83bn (£62bn) deal for Warner Bros Discovery’s streaming and studio assets, but warned that ambition, variety and partnerships must form part of the SVoD’s bosses’ thinking to make it a successful move.

Two senior streaming figures from rival platforms told Broadcast that the “game-changing” move would spur on them and their teams.

“I think it’s massive and exciting. There’s a lot to sort out and there’s going to be nervousness and caution in the industry, but I don’t think we should be worried. There are different markets, different audiences and rising tides lift all boats,” one said.

“Everyone will raise their game and work harder.”

The other concurred, saying that after an initial “fuck me” reaction, they see it as an “opportunity for me and my team to continue to grow and offer opportunities to producers for adult-focused content”.

However, they noted that bringing together the most significant industry disruptor of the past decade with a legacy Hollywood studio could impact the cultural fabric of the sector, with a knock-on effect that might impact suppliers.

“My main worry is: will it make Netflix lose what made it special? It had a very distinctive tone and offering – how will that change? And what will it mean for indies, particularly in the UK?

“[Bringing Warner Bros in] could take time and slow its momentum in the UK,” the person continued. “It’s obviously a huge play and the reverberations will be felt in film, TV and further afield.”

The first streaming exec believes Netflix will be enhanced by the potential to add their own prowess in creating global brands. They also rejected suggestions that the global streamer’s brands are not as resonant with audiences as the likes of WBD’s Harry Potter, DC Studios, Game of Thrones, The White Lotus, The Last of Us and myriad others.

“Look at Stranger Things, KPop: Demon Hunters and Wednesday – just this year. They’re very good at building their own brands. This will open up so many different possibilities in terms of content – how they will make it, how they will franchise their IP.”

Analytical insight

As rivals weigh up how they will look to compete with this potential behemoth, some analysts are seeing the move as a competition killer.

“Does it mean Netflix is untouchable in the marketplace? It probably does. It gives them massive strength,” Jack Davison, executive vice-president at 3Vision, told Broadcast.

“Paramount and WBD both have sub-scale streaming products. They’re not large and struggle in some markets to penetrate. The two of them together would’ve super-charged [a streamer], but it would still probably be in third place in some markets, especially if you consider Disney+.”

There also questions over how Netflix will work with the considerable IP and catalogue it will add to its own large and continually increasing library.

Netflix co-chiefs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters today noted there are multiple issues to iron out in integrating a massive studio with TV and film capabilities and another global streamer – which is about to finally land in the UK – into their own business.

But they also talked up the “pretty limitless” opportunities that a combined Netflix-WBD could bring to production capabilities, strengthening Netflix’s progressing, but less advanced, content development.

“It’s big. Warner Bros’ library and studio business is interesting for Netflix – it can bring loads more IP into their own system ‘for free’, effectively,” said Dane Phillips, media partner at London-based M&A specialist Pura Advisory.

“It’s a retention tool for Netflix, to keep eyeballs in the platform, and they’ll be able to increase prices, creating the perception that Netflix is the “one-stop-shop” in the content world.”

But will this benefit producers? A leading UK indie executive is sceptical.

“The bit that gives me pause is what happens when a few major players start to hold most of the cards,” they told Broadcast. “Scale can be useful, but once you drift towards a de facto monopoly the whole ecosystem tightens.

“Fewer commissioners with real power mean fewer routes in for new talent, less space for odd, brilliant ideas, and a greater likelihood that audiences end up with a thinner diet of the same familiar flavours.”

If the deal brings more range and real investment in craft, that’s great. If everything starts to blend into one, viewers will notice straightaway

Like Phillips, they acknowledged a clear upside for audiences, with people “tired of juggling subscriptions” and so having all the shows in fewer places will “feel like a breather”.

It is instructive that Channing Dungey-led Warner Bros Television Studios has been a major supplier to Netflix as it ascended to the streaming throne over the past decade with notable titles such as five-series serial killer smash You, Lucifer, The Kominsky Method, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

More recently, WBTV-supplied series like The Sandman, 2025 event thriller Untamed and returning comedy Running Point have been popular hits on Netflix, so having ready access to that could be a boon.

But the indie exec warned that consolidation could flatten discovery as much as widen it.

“If it brings more range and real investment in craft, that’s great. If everything starts to blend into one, viewers will notice straightaway,” they continued.

Third-party licensing and partnerships

Davison also sounded a similar alarm and suggested Netflix buying Warner Bros could pose more of a threat to third-party activity and partnerships than Paramount would have done.

“Are they going to take [all that Warner IP] in and do more content on their own?” he asked. “Are they going to limit co-pros. Or will they be out there sharing and licensing content rather than taking content off other people?

“Lot of people will be thinking about what’s happening to my partnership with WBD. There are some [partners] of HBO out there that have been holding onto those relationships for ages.

“The flip-side of that is that Netflix has been shrewd in how they’ve spent recently - they know they’re not immune from the vagaries of content economics. They’d be in a strong position to partner with people but have a bit more control.”

He also hoped it could spell an uptick in investment to flagship brand HBO, which has been “sad to watch” in recent years as WBD has tried to “control costs and sort out P&L”.

“The pipeline for HBO in terms of scripted series has been tiny,” he added. “Netflix is not buying a massive pipeline, but it would be mad to lose the HBO brand.”

As the indie exec concluded, the main point to this deal succeeding is to continue being expansive. “We’re moving away from bragging rights about who owns what, and towards questions of reach, relevance and sustaining quality over the long haul,” they said.

“The thing we all need to hold on to is ambition. As the platforms grow closer, the work mustn’t get smaller.”