Amanda Ross

Editor-In-Chief

Netflix, the multi-billion dollar streaming service, is facing yet another obstacle to its acquisition of Warner Brothers’ film and streaming divisions as company CCO Ted Sandros testifies in front of the Senate. In particular, the Senate worries that the merger would pose a serious risk to competition in the film industry. 

Netflix began the process to acquire the Warner Brothers’ division after winning an industry-wide bidding war in Dec. At the time, the winning bid was around 72 billion dollars. Soon after, Netflix raised its bid to around 83 billion, in an attempt to accelerate proceedings. At the same time, Paramount Skydance was working to secure the entirety of the company for 108 billion. This was complicated however by Warner Brothers urging shareholders to reject Paramount’s offer. Sandros at the time said that he did not foresee any significant legal pushback to the deal and that both companies were in agreement.

Yet, as recently as January, senate officials began expressing concern over the implications for both the industry and consumers. In a senate hearing conducted today, Feb. 3, senators pushed Sandros on the potential for job loss at Warner Brothers after the merger is completed. Sandros replied that they planned to run the company “largely as it is today”. They also questioned whether or not the acquisition of a major competitor, HBO Max, would put Netflix in a position to further disadvantage competition. The concerns brought parallel many of those originally raised during the merger between entertainment giants Disney and 20th Century Fox. 

At the hearing’s end, it was unclear if the Senate committee would approve Netflix’s offer.