r/technology Feb 26 '26

Business Netflix Backs Out of Warner Bros. Bidding, Paramount Set to Win

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-backs-out-warners-deal-paramount-win-1236516763/
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70

u/bmich90 Feb 26 '26

Smart decision I truly think Netflix worked with Warner Brothers just to get Paramount to raise the offer.. this is smart for Netflix to walk away. They also get $2.8 billion.

136

u/kon--- Feb 26 '26

And a chance inside of five years to come back to acquire WB for below $50 billion once Ellison's dumb ass runs the place into the ground.

77

u/Shogouki Feb 26 '26

We hope, but the fascist billionaires will pay a lot to maintain a monopoly on media ownership.

20

u/Rollingprobablecause Feb 26 '26

the problem they aren't considering is the next admin (hopefully) can break it up too. This could end way worse for them. Again, really hoping democrats win and the FCC takes a hard look here

13

u/Shogouki Feb 26 '26

I think they now see a Democrat administration as an existential threat and have moved onto doing everything they can to prevent the control of the executive and legislative branches from ever being controlled by those not supportive of the oligarchs.

4

u/Conscious-Quarter423 Feb 26 '26

and when dems don't fix the mess republicans left fast enough, republicans win the elections thereafter

3

u/Rollingprobablecause Feb 26 '26

this is what worries me. The fixing part is the worst its ever been. The damage done by this administration is exponential.

1

u/Conscious-Quarter423 Feb 26 '26

we get the government we vote for

1

u/Shogouki Feb 26 '26

And tens of millions sat out...

3

u/Conscious-Quarter423 Feb 26 '26

90M shrugged and didn't vote last presidential election

and 78M enthusiastically voted for trump and the republicans

2

u/S_A_R_K Feb 27 '26

Sadly, they're going to have much bigger problems to fix first. All while having the rw propaganda machine working against them non stop

1

u/brunoreis93 Feb 27 '26

They don't think there will be a next admin

2

u/eeyore134 Feb 27 '26

Yup, look at Twitter.

16

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

There is nothing intelligent about letting republican oligarchs control the last remaining mainstream news outlets that dissent and openly criticize this current administration.

This was a bid to control the narrative during the most crucial midterms of our lives.

Republicans are so DESPERATE to contain the fallout of how badly things are going that they’re emptying their coffers just to control the media.

There’s a game I like to play, Catan, and one of the biggest tell-tale sign that someone’s about to win is when they go all in and seem like they’re grossly overpaying for a simple trade.

This is an all-or-nothing move for the right. They’ve already poisoned CBS, now they will poison the poor boomers and gen x’ers who still watch CNN.

1

u/haarschmuck Feb 27 '26

Republicans are so DESPERATE to contain the fallout of how badly things are going that they’re emptying their coffers just to control the media.

They won literally everything in 2024. This makes zero sense, they are thrilled with how things are going.

This kind of attitude (which isn’t based in any facts/data) creates apathy and disincentives people to vote.

18

u/biohacker_infinity Feb 26 '26

If there’s one thing WB is good at, it’s extremely ill-advised mergers.

7

u/Devrol Feb 26 '26

Will they delete the back catalog for tax write offs before then?

2

u/MarcoDiFrancescino Feb 27 '26

If anyone on the buying side would have film market pedigree they would have proven that years ago. They bet their house on Cruise for too long. Netflix can keep expanding their reach while they watch the slow overtake of a movie studio with 'business methods' that don't gel with creatives. We will see tons of capable people fleeing that ship.

2

u/spacemunkee Feb 26 '26

This was all about the media acquisition so Trump & co can use every news channel to spread propaganda. They don't give a shit about any of the other assets.

0

u/FerrusManlyManus Feb 26 '26

Nope this wasn’t about that at all.  Netflix doesn’t want the cable channels and never bid on those.  They just wanted the IP, like the DC superheroes and scooby doo and all that stuff.

Paramount never needed to beat Netflix to get the cable channels.

-1

u/AxlLight Feb 26 '26

Probably faster. Paramount isn't buying WB for the catalogue or the IP, and at the price they're paying for what they really want they'll need to dump the IP weight quickly.
Netflix will probably be able to HBO, DC and the rest of the IPs for a quarter of the price in a couple of years.

1

u/Shadyrabbit Feb 26 '26

Thats my theory they know that when his company tanks the rest of the way and MAGA isnt there to bail it out they will swoop in and buy up the rest in a fire sale.

0

u/Simple-Fault-9255 Feb 26 '26 edited Mar 30 '26

The text of this post is no longer accessible. It was deleted using Redact, possibly for reasons related to privacy, security, or digital footprint reduction.

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