‘This merger must be blocked’: Netflix-Warner Bros deal faces fierce backlash
Guardian3 days
Paramount Launches $108B Bid for Warner Bros. Amid Netflix Deal
Does Paramount's all-cash offer deliver superior value and competition, or does it mask desperation with questionable funding?
Above: Paramount office building in Los Angeles, California. Image credit: Eric Thayer/Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
Paramount's all-cash $30-per-share offer delivers $17.6 billion more to shareholders than Netflix's inferior stock-and-cash deal, while keeping Warner Bros. Discovery whole rather than splitting it apart. The combination creates real competition against streaming giants and offers a faster regulatory path given Paramount's smaller size and friendly ties to the Trump administration. Netflix's anticompetitive grab of the No. 3 streaming service by the No. 1 player deserves heavy skepticism.
Narrative B
Paramount's hostile takeover attempt exposes desperation after losing the bidding war, relying on controversial Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds while freezing out governance rights to dodge regulatory scrutiny. The Oracle heir's claims about superior value ignore that shareholders also receive a stake in the linear TV spinout under Netflix's deal. Paramount's lobbying about competition rings hollow when the real threat comes from allowing a smaller player to absorb major assets without proven streaming scale.
Narrative C
Neither Netflix nor Paramount Skydance is likely to rescue the struggling theatrical business. Perhaps the real issue pushing audiences away is $20 tickets and $18 popcorn — an experience that feels too costly for many. Still, whether Netflix's massive $82.7 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery succeeds or Paramount ultimately prevails with its bold $100 billion hostile offer, the consequences will be profound. CEOs, dealmakers, unions, creative talent and everyday consumers will all face major changes as Hollywood undergoes a seismic power shift.
Narrative D
The Netflix–WBD deal initially seemed poised to reshape Hollywood, but Paramount Skydance's $108.4 billion all-cash bid has turned it into a full-blown power struggle. Paramount argues that its offer pays more and faces fewer global regulatory hurdles, but either deal could dangerously concentrate the power of creative media and distribution powerhouses. With deep-pocket investors, political allies and antitrust scrutiny in play, the fight reveals how money and political influence now steer who controls Hollywood's content empire.