News Netflix to buy Warner Brothers

[the G-man]

It’s Official: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros. in Deal Valued at $82.7 Billion: The streaming giant's proposal includes a $5.8 billion breakup fee and promises to maintain Warner Bros. current operations, "including theatrical releases." Theater owners are already speaking out.


The "Paramount Antitrust Case" of 1948 forced major Hollywood studios to sell their movie theaters, ending vertical integration (studios owning production, distribution, and exhibition). It banned practices like block booking (forcing theaters to buy bundles of films) and led to studio divestment, fundamentally reshaping the film industry by separating production from theater ownership for decades, and fostering competition for independent cinemas and producers.

IMO, letting studios own streaming services, and streaming services own the studios is basically the same (bad) practice that was shut down nearly eighty years ago.

 

[Nerroth]

I'd be curious to see what, if anything, this acquisition might mean for the Babylon 5 franchise going forward.

Would the existing crop of series and specials be added to the Netflix streaming catalogue?

If so, might Netflix be more open to supporting a more substantive relaunch of B5 at some point in the future?

On a less than serious note, I suppose one could also see some crossover potential with Netflix's existing IPs. For example: "It is the dawn of the Third Age... of K-Pop!"

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

I'd be curious to see what, if anything, this acquisition might mean for the Babylon 5 franchise going forward

Looked for a thread about this purely to mention the Babylon 5 aspect, but I see @Nerroth has beat me to the punch.

We all know Netflix only bought Warner Bros. for those sweet, sweet Babylon 5 rights.

Mostly joking, of course, but Netflix has previously been interested in having a Star Trek-type show, which I believe led to co-financing Discovery and rebooting Lost in Space. I could legitimately see them bringing it back. They've also previously worked with JMS on Sense8.

 

[Danja]

THAT was fast.

How many months did we have to wait for the Paramount/Skydance merger to clear?

 

[UssGlenn]

THAT was fast.

How many months did we have to wait for the Paramount/Skydance merger to clear?

It'll still be over a year before the merger is complete, and that assumes that Ellison doesn't successfully lobby Trump to block it.

 

[Saul]

I didn't expect this would happen and it still might not.

If so, might Netflix be more open to supporting a more substantive relaunch of B5 at some point in the future?

With all the WB content that they will have, along with their own content, I doubt it. Only what makes big money in their eyes will get a lookie.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

My immediate response was "eww" and I see no reason to alter it as of it yet.

 

[Owain Taggart]

So basically Netflix owns DC now?

IMO, letting studios own streaming services, and streaming services own the studios is basically the same (bad) practice that was shut down nearly eighty years ago.

I dunno, I don't feel it's remotely the same. I think it would be more of an issue if there was too much overlap, like two big studios like WB and Paramount merging. Here we have a Streaming service merging with a big studio with a lot of history, and together they compliment each other in ways that I feel make some sense. Netflix as a Streaming service doesn't block out a lot of theatre space, in fact its theatre releases tend to be limited to few locations rather than wide releases.

I actually had more of an issue with Amazon buying up MGM.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

To think it all began with renting DVD's for movie night at home at the end of the workweek.

 

[JLBTucker]

I am glad it wasn't Paramount atleast

 

[Danja]

International Documentary Association Blasts Proposed Netflix-WB Merger, Says It Would “Profoundly Damage The Future Of Documentary Filmmaking”

The International Documentary Association is blasting the proposed merger between Netflix and WB, calling it nightmarish for documentary filmmakers.

deadline.com

Will the last group to bash the WB/Netflix merger please turn out the lights?

 

[Owain Taggart]

This is a good breakdown on what will happen with this merger:

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[Danja]

Netflix Wins Bid For Warner Bros. — Paramount Considering Hostile Takeover

The company that owns Star Trek is at red alert, preparing to fire phasers at the announced deal.

trekmovie.com

Paramount is considering a hostile takeover.

David Ellison is not taking this lying down.

Paramount is reportedly considering taking their case directly to shareholders and bypassing the board of directors with a hostile takeover, arguing they made the superior bid. They offered $30 per share (all cash) compared to Netflix’s $27.75 (85% cash).

 

[camdudetenger2018]

this is gotta be the biggest news in entertanment history since the time disney bought lucusarts and lucusfilms or the time when disney bought 20th and 21st century fox or when disney bought marvel

 

[Owain Taggart]

WBD + Paramount, now that is what I'd consider a little more dangerous in terms of anti-trust issues.

 

[adv1701]

I am the opposite, something about Netflix I am not just a fan of. I think the younger Ellison is a bit of a nerd and would be a better steward of DC.

 

[Owain Taggart]

^ The problem I have with it is that it would be two legacy studios merging, with way too much overlap. It's the kind of thing that would make antitrust courts go nuts. The difference with Netflix is that there isn't all that much overlap in the way of what is offered. It's the kind of merger where both companies end up being complimentary to each other's offerings. WBD has the history with their studio, Netflix meanwhile is still fairly young but has established itself as a streaming platform which is where their expertise lies. In this merger, Netflix would get access to WBD's studio and IPs while WBD would likely get the option to revamp their streaming setup and put Netflix's streaming technology under the hood.

WBD + Paramount would mean LOTR, HP, DC AND Star Trek all owned under a single umbrella and that would frankly be a bit too much and that is where the consumer would lose out. Clearly Ellison is gunning for those IPs and not much else.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

 

[Owain Taggart]

I did find it to be interesting timing. You'd almost think it was the plan all along.

 

[Gepard]

I am glad it wasn't Paramount atleast

I'm glad it wasn't anyone who already bought out another studio. Admittedly, it appeals to my sense of fairness; Disney already got Fox, Skydance Paramount, and Amazon MGM. Could you imagine if one of those guys got Warner? Netflix feels like the least-bad option.