\n
Netflix acquiring one of its foremost entertainment rivals? Stranger things have happened.<\/p>\n
The largest subscription streaming service in the world is set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s film and TV studio, streaming business (including HBO Max), and HBO, in a deal valued at $82.7 billion, it announced Friday morning.<\/p>\n
The deal, which is expected to close sometime after the third quarter of 2026, is set to create a Hollywood Goliath and will bring lucrative entertainment franchises under one roof as Netflix looks to continue to cement itself as a must-have subscription, build out its advertising business, and engage consumers through consumer products and IRL experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur mission has always been to entertain the world,\u201d Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said in a statement. \u201cBy combining Warner Bros.\u2019s incredible library of shows and movies\u2014from timeless classics like Casablanca<\/em> and Citizen Kane<\/em> to modern favorites like Harry Potter<\/em> and Friends<\/em>\u2014with our culture-defining titles like Stranger Things<\/em>, KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>, and Squid Game<\/em>, we\u2019ll be able to do that even better. Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\nThe megadeal comes as part of a larger split of Warner Bros. Discovery, which, after combining in 2022, announced plans to cleave its streaming and studio operations from its linear TV business, setting off a bidding war. Netflix was not the only interested party: Paramount Skydance, itself fresh off of a controversial merger, had also thrown its hat in the ring, as did Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal and its streaming service Peacock.<\/p>\n
In a call with Wall Street analysts Friday, Sarandos noted that the deal marked something of a new era for Netflix, which has, unlike other entertainment giants like Disney, made only small acquisitions over the years. Just last month, Sarandos told investors that the company was \u201cpredominantly focused on growing organically\u201d after fielding a question about acquisition rumors.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years, we have been known to be builders, not buyers,\u201d Sarandos said on the call this morning. \u201cWe already have incredible shows and movies and a great business model, and it\u2019s working for talent, it\u2019s working for consumers and it\u2019s working for shareholders, but this is a rare opportunity and it\u2019s going to help us achieve our mission to entertain the world and to bring people together through great stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Subscribe here:<\/strong> Any combination is set to immediately boost Netflix\u2019s total subscriber count, which it announced earlier this year had cleared 300 million (although the streamer has stopped breaking out subscriber counts every quarter). WBD, meanwhile, last reported that it had a total of 128 million global streaming subscribers, up 16% year over year, and told investors it was \u201con a clear path towards at least 150 million streaming subscribers by the end of 2026.\u201d (That count includes HBO Max, by far its largest streamer, along with Discovery+ and other more niche services.)<\/p>\n\n
\n
Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read<\/h5>\n
Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
If the deal goes through, it\u2019s unclear exactly how Netflix could bring HBO Max into its own fold and how consumers might access both services in the future, but Netflix said in its announcement that the acquisition will allow it \u201cto optimize its plans for consumers.\u201d It\u2019s possible that Netflix could bundle the services, like rival Disney does with its own standalone offerings.<\/p>\n
Not bad, ads:<\/strong> The deal is poised to create a streaming advertising behemoth. Netflix has been steadily building out its advertising platform since it first debuted in November 2022 and last reported 94 million monthly active users on its ads tier worldwide. Last quarter, the streamer said it was on track to more than double its revenue from advertising.<\/p>\nWBD has also been steadily building out advertising on HBO Max, including with new ad formats and higher ad loads. Last month, the company reported that its total streaming advertising revenue increased 14%, which was primarily driven by an increase in subscribers to its ad-supported tier; those gains, though, were overshadowed by steep declines to the company\u2019s linear TV business.<\/p>\n
Close the curtains?<\/strong> Netflix executives have pooh-poohed traditional theatrical releases, with Sarandos recently saying that the model is \u201coutmoded,\u201d which has already led to plenty of concern among those committed to the moviegoing business. For now, the company said that it \u201cexpects to maintain Warner Bros.\u2019s current operations and build on its strengths, including theatrical releases for films.\u201d<\/p>\nCombine and conquer: <\/strong>Late last month, HBO CEO Casey Bloys, whose fate at the combined company is unclear, said during a press event that Netflix has \u201cbecome a utility for consumers,\u201d but noted that he believed there was still room in the market for stand-out programming options to complement it.<\/p>\n\u201c[Netflix] is the basic cable of today, and in today\u2019s world, consumers still want to add to their entertainment portfolio with must-have, truly unique programming that only we can deliver,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Netflix acquiring one of its foremost entertainment rivals? Stranger things have happened. The largest subscription streaming service in the world is set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s film and TV studio, streaming business (including HBO Max), and HBO, in a deal valued at $82.7 billion, it announced Friday morning. The deal, which is expected to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-marketing"},"yoast_head":"\n
Netflix buys Warner Bros. Discovery in deal valued at $83 billion | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Netflix acquiring one of its foremost entertainment rivals? Stranger things have happened.The largest subscription streaming service in the world is set\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Netflix buys Warner Bros. Discovery in deal valued at $83 billion | Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Netflix acquiring one of its foremost entertainment rivals? Stranger things have happened.The largest subscription streaming service in the world is set\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-05T20:19:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-05T20:19:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764965962_HollywoodAwaitsFinalVoteOnTentativeDealBetweenWritersGuildAndStudios.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\"},\"headline\":\"Netflix buys Warner Bros. Discovery in deal valued at $83 billion\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-05T20:19:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-05T20:19:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898\"},\"wordCount\":858,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Marketing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898\",\"name\":\"Netflix buys Warner Bros. Discovery in deal valued at $83 billion | Brandiary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-05T20:19:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-05T20:19:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"Netflix acquiring one of its foremost entertainment rivals? Stranger things have happened.The largest subscription streaming service in the world is set\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Netflix buys Warner Bros. Discovery in deal valued at $83 billion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"description\":\"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"width\":381,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Brandiary\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Netflix buys Warner Bros. Discovery in deal valued at $83 billion | Brandiary","description":"Netflix acquiring one of its foremost entertainment rivals? Stranger things have happened.The largest subscription streaming service in the world is set","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Netflix buys Warner Bros. Discovery in deal valued at $83 billion | Brandiary","og_description":"Netflix acquiring one of its foremost entertainment rivals? Stranger things have happened.The largest subscription streaming service in the world is set","og_url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898","og_site_name":"Brandiary","article_published_time":"2025-12-05T20:19:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-05T20:19:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764965962_HollywoodAwaitsFinalVoteOnTentativeDealBetweenWritersGuildAndStudios.jpeg","width":1,"height":1,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4"},"headline":"Netflix buys Warner Bros. Discovery in deal valued at $83 billion","datePublished":"2025-12-05T20:19:21+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-05T20:19:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898"},"wordCount":858,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Marketing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898","name":"Netflix buys Warner Bros. Discovery in deal valued at $83 billion | Brandiary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-12-05T20:19:21+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-05T20:19:22+00:00","description":"Netflix acquiring one of its foremost entertainment rivals? Stranger things have happened.The largest subscription streaming service in the world is set","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22898#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Netflix buys Warner Bros. Discovery in deal valued at $83 billion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","name":"Brandiary","description":"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization","name":"Brandiary","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","width":381,"height":100,"caption":"Brandiary"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com"],"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22900,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22898\/revisions\/22900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}