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Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos discussed the Warner Bros. Discovery sale with President Donald Trump before finalizing its game-changing takeover, according to multiple media reports. The pair met in person for nearly two hours in mid-November at the White House, where Trump said WBD should sell to the highest offer. Sarandos reportedly left believing Netflix wouldn't face immediate regulatory hurdles, although President Trump said the deal "could be a problem" Sunday night. Meanwhile, shareholders are worried about how the move will affect the streamer's stock price.
Netflix struck a deal Friday to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max, in a $72 billion deal that would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
If approved by regulators, the merger would put two of the world’s biggest streaming services under the same ownership — and join Warner’s television and motion picture division, including DC Studios, with Netflix’s vast library and its production arm, which has released popular titles such as “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game.”
“Netflix is the top streaming service today. Now combined with HBO Max, it will absolutely cement itself as the Goliath in the streaming industry,” said Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester, a market research company.
The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt. The transaction is expected to close in the next 12 to 18 months, after Warner completes the previously announced separation of its cable operations. Not included in the deal are networks such as CNN and Discovery.
Will streaming services stay separate or combine?
One of the big unanswered questions, Proulx added, is whether HBO Max and Netflix would “stay as separate streaming services or combine into a mega streaming service.”
But either way, he said, customers could see some price relief in the form of a single subscription bill or bundle promotions, which would be a welcome change as streaming prices continue to rise and consumers feel the pinch of paying for multiple services.
Of course, that all depends on whether the deal goes through. Netflix on Friday maintained that the addition of HBO and HBO Max programming will give its members “even more high-quality titles” and “optimize its plans for consumers.”
Others warned that a Netflix-Warner combo could create an even bigger entertainment titan with ramifications for both consumers and people working across the film and TV industry. Critics said the consequences could include job losses and a reduced variety of content.
Gaining Warner’s legacy studios would mark a notable shift for Netflix, particularly its presence in theaters. Under the proposed acquisition, Netflix has promised to continue theatrical releases for Warner’s studio films, honoring Warner’s contractual agreements.
Netflix has kept most of its original content within its core online platform. But there have been exceptions, including qualifying runs for its awards contenders, including this year’s “Frankenstein,” limited theater screenings of a “KPop Demon Hunters” sing-a-long and its coming “Stranger Things” series finale.
“Our mission has always been to entertain the world,” Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said in a statement, adding that merging with Warner will “give audiences more of what they love.”
David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, added that merging with Netflix “will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world’s most resonant stories for generations to come.”
Critics question the potential effect on movie theaters and filmmakers
Critics said a Netflix-Warner combo would be bad news for moviegoers and for people who work in theaters. Cinema United — a trade association that represents more than 30,000 movie screens in the U.S. and another 26,000 screens internationally — was quick to oppose the deal, which it said “poses an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business.”
“Netflix’s stated business model does not support theatrical exhibition. In fact, it is the opposite,” Michael O’Leary, CEO of Cinema United, said Friday. “Theaters will close, communities will suffer, jobs will be lost.”
The Writers Guild of America sounded a similar alarm and called for the merger to be blocked.
The Producers Guild of America said the Netflix deal must prove that it protects workers’ livelihoods and theatrical distribution. “Legacy studios are more than content libraries — within their vaults are the character and culture of our nation,” the union added.
Warner Bros., which is 102 years old, is one of the “big five” studios left in Hollywood. If the Netflix sale goes through, the remaining legacy studios would be Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures, and Universal.
The Netflix-Warner deal also sent shock waves through Washington, on both sides of the aisle.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a longtime antitrust hawk, said the proposed merger “looks like an anti-monopoly nightmare.” And Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican and close Trump ally, said the deal “raises serious red flags for consumers, creators, movie theaters and local businesses alike.”
Friday’s announcement followed a month-long bidding war for Warner. Rumors of interest from Netflix, as well as NBC owner Comcast, started bubbling up in the fall. Skydance-owned Paramount, which completed its own $8 billion merger in August, also reportedly made several all-cash offers.
Paramount seemed like the front-runner for some time, and unlike Netflix or Comcast, it was reportedly vying to buy Warner’s entire company, including its cable networks and news business.
Beyond combining two of Hollywood’s legacy studios, that would have brought Paramount-owned CBS and Warner’s CNN under the same roof. Such sizeable consolidation would have vastly reshaped America’s TV media landscape, and perhaps raised questions about shifts in editorial control — as seen at CBS News both leading up to and following Skydance’s purchase of Paramount.
Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday from The Associated Press.
Regulators and politics could decide the fate of the deal
While Netflix’s bid won over Warner’s approval, experts stressed that a bumpy regulatory road lies ahead.
“No doubt politics are going to come into play,” Proulx said. He pointed particularly to the Trump administration’s relationship with the family of Larry Ellison, whose son David runs Paramount, and reports of that company’s frustrations over Warner’s sale process — both of which, he noted, “can’t be ignored as part of the calculus as to the outcome of all of this.”
Christina DePasquale, a Johns Hopkins University professor who specializes in antitrust issues, said the government might be skeptical of a streaming behemoth controlling both the production and distribution of content.
Warner Bros. Discovery, which was formed just three and a half years ago, announced its intention to split its streaming and studio operations from its cable business back in June. The move arrived as more and more consumers continue to “cut the cord” and rely almost entirely on streaming.
The company outlined plans for HBO, HBO Max, as well as Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, and DC Studios, to become part of a new streaming and studios company. That is what Netflix is now acquiring. Meanwhile, networks such as CNN, Discovery and TNT Sport,s and other digital products will make up a separate cable counterpart called Discovery Global.
Warner signaled that it was open to a sale of all of parts of its business back in October, citing “unsolicited interest” it had received. Now that it’s agreed to Netflix’s bid, Discovery Global is set to become a new publicly traded company by the third quarter of 2026.
President Donald Trump on Sunday hosted the Kennedy Center Honors and praised Sylvester Stallone, Kiss, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford, and George Strait, the slate of honorees he helped choose, as being “legendary in so many ways.”
“Billions and billions of people have watched them over the years,” Trump, the first president to command the stage, said to open the show.
The Republican president said the artists, recognized with tribute performances during the show, are “among the greatest artists and actors, performers, musicians, singers, songwriters ever to walk the face of the Earth.”
Since returning to the office in January, Trump has made the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which is named after a Democratic predecessor, a touchstone in a broader attack against what he has lambasted as “woke” anti-American culture.
Trump said Saturday that he was hosting “at the request of a certain television network.” He predicted the broadcast scheduled for Dec. 23 on CBS and Paramount+ would have its best ratings ever.
Before Trump, presidents watched the show alongside the honorees. Trump skipped the honors altogether during his first term.
Asked how he got ready for the gig, Trump said as he moved along the red carpet with his wife, first lady Melania Trump, that he “didn’t really prepare very much.”
“I have a good memory, so I can remember things, which is very fortunate,” the president said. “But just, I wanted to just be myself. You have to be yourself.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, one of several Cabinet secretaries attending the ceremony, said his boss “is so relaxed in front of these cameras, as you know, and so funny, I can’t wait for tonight.” Lutnick arrived with his wife, a member of the Kennedy Center’s board.
Trump appeared on stage three times to open and close the show, and after intermission. He also talked up each artist in prerecorded videos that played before their tributes.
Trump was both gracious and critical in the comments he delivered from the stage, lavishing the honorees with effusive praise but at times showing a mean streak. After returning from intermission, he said he’d toured some of the construction projects he has launched to renovate the performing arts center. And he said it was a “fantastic” night.
“Well, we’re really having a good time tonight,” Trump said. “So many people I know are in this audience. Some good. Some bad. Some I truly love and respect. Some I just hate.”
Since 1978, the honors have recognized stars for their influence on American culture and the arts. Members of this year’s class are pop-culture standouts, including Stallone for his “Rocky” and “Rambo” movies, Gaynor for her “I Will Survive” feminist anthem, and Kiss for its flashy, cartoonish makeup and onstage displays of smoke and pyrotechnics.
Strait is a leader in the world of country music, and Crawford, a Tony Award-winning actor, is best known for starring in “Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show in Broadway history.
Trump said persistence is a trait shared by the honorees, several of whom had humble beginnings.
“Some of them have had legendary setbacks, setbacks that you have to read in the papers because of their level of fame,” he said from the stage. “But in the words of Rocky Balboa, they showed us that you keep moving forward, just keep moving forward.”
He said many of the politicians, celebrities, and others in the audience shared the trait, too.
“I know so many of you are persistent,” Trump said in his opening. “Many of you are miserable, horrible people. You are persistent. You never give up. Sometimes I wish you’d give up, but you don’t.”
The ceremony was expected to be emotional for the members of Kiss. The band’s original lead guitarist, Ace Frehley, died in October after he was injured during a fall. During the tribute to Kiss, a lone red guitar that emitted smoke was placed on stage in remembrance of Frehley, who was known for having a smoke bomb in his instrument.
The program closed with a rousing performance by Cheap Trick of Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Nite” that brought the audience to its feet.
Stallone said receiving the honor was like being in the “eye of a hurricane.”
“This is an amazing event,” he said on the red carpet. “But you’re caught up in the middle of it. It’s hard to take it in until the next day. ..: but I’m incredibly humbled by it.”
Crawford also said it was “humbling, especially at the end of a career.”
Gaynor said it “feels like a dream” to be honored. “To be recognized in this way is the pinnacle,” she said after arriving.
Mike Farris, an award-winning gospel singer who performed for Gaynor, called her a dear friend. “She truly did survive,” Farris said. “What an iconic song.”
Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center
Trump upended decades of bipartisan support for the center by ousting its leadership and stacking the board of trustees with Republican supporters, who elected him chair. He has criticized the center’s programming and the building’s appearance — and has said, perhaps jokingly, that he would rename it as the “Trump Kennedy Center.” He secured more than $250 million from Congress for renovations of the building.
Asked Sunday night about a possible renaming, Trump said it would be up to the board. Still, he joked at one point about the “Trump Kennedy Center.”
Presidents of each political party have at times found themselves face-to-face with artists of opposing political views. Republican Ronald Reagan was there for honoree Arthur Miller, a playwright who championed liberal causes. Democrat Bill Clinton, who had signed an assault weapons ban into law, marked the honors for Charlton Heston, an actor and gun rights advocate.
During Trump’s first term, multiple honorees were openly critical of the president. In 2017, Trump’s first year in office, honors recipient and film producer Norman Lear threatened to boycott his own ceremony if Trump attended. Trump stayed away during that entire term.
Trump has said he was deeply involved in choosing the 2025 honorees and turned down some recommendations because they were “too woke.” He said Sunday that about 50 names were whittled down to five. While Stallone is one of Trump’s Hollywood ”special ambassadors” and has likened Trump to George Washington, the political views of Sunday’s other guests are less clear.
Honorees’ views about Trump
Strait and Gaynor have said little about their politics, although Federal Election Commission records show that Gaynor has given money to Republican organizations in recent years.
Simmons spoke favorably of Trump when Trump ran for president in 2016. But in 2022, Simmons told Spin magazine that Trump was “out for himself” and criticized Trump for encouraging conspiracy theories and public expressions of racism.
Fellow Kiss member Paul Stanley denounced Trump’s effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, and said Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were “terrorists.” But after Trump won in 2024, Stanley urged unity.
“If your candidate lost, it’s time to learn from it, accept it and try to understand why,” Stanley wrote on X. “If your candidate won, it’s time to understand that those who don’t share your views also believe they are right and love this country as much as you do.”