There may be concern that subscribers could be negatively affected if Netflix acquires Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and film studios companies. One of many largest fears is that the merger would result in greater costs because of much less competitors for Netflix.
Throughout a US Senate listening to Tuesday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos instructed that the merger would have an reverse impact.
Sarandos was talking at a listening to held by the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competitors Coverage, and Shopper Rights, “Inspecting the Aggressive Affect of the Proposed Netflix-Warner Brothers Transaction.”
Sarandos aimed to persuade the subcommittee that Netflix wouldn’t turn out to be a monopoly in streaming or in film and TV manufacturing if regulators allowed its acquisition to shut. Netflix is the biggest subscription video-on-demand supplier by subscribers (301.63 million as of January 2025), and Warner Bros. Discovery is the third (128 million streaming subscribers, together with customers of HBO Max and, to a smaller diploma, Discovery+).
Talking on the listening to, Sarandos stated: “Netflix and Warner Bros. each have streaming providers, however they’re very complementary. Actually, 80 p.c of HBO Max subscribers additionally subscribe to Netflix. We’ll give shoppers extra content material for much less.”
Through the listening to, Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota requested Sarandos how Netflix can be sure that streaming stays “reasonably priced” after a merger, particularly after Netflix issued a worth hike in January 2025 regardless of including extra subscribers.
Sarandos stated the streaming business continues to be aggressive. The chief claimed that earlier Netflix worth hikes have include “much more worth” for subscribers.
“We’re a one-click cancel, so if the buyer says, ‘That’s an excessive amount of for what I’m getting,’ they’ll cancel with one click on,” Sarandos stated.
When pressed additional on pricing, the chief argued that the merger doesn’t pose “any focus danger” and that Netflix is working with the US Division of Justice on potential guardrails in opposition to extra worth hikes.
Sarandos claimed that the merger would “create extra worth for shoppers.” Nevertheless, his concept of worth isn’t nearly how a lot subscribers pay to stream however about content material high quality. By his calculations, which he offered with out additional particulars, Netflix subscribers spend a median of 35 cents per hour of content material watched, in comparison with 90 cents for Paramount+.
The Netflix stat is just like one offered by MoffettNathanson in January 2025, discovering that within the prior quarter, on common, Netflix generated 34 cents in subscription charges per hour of content material seen per subscriber. On the time, the analysis agency stated Paramount+ made a median of 76 cents per hour of content material seen per subscriber.
Downplaying Monopoly Considerations
Netflix views Warner as “each a competitor and a provider,” Sarandos stated when subcommittee chair Republican senator Mike Lee of Utah requested why Netflix desires to purchase WB’s movie studios, per Selection. The streaming govt claimed that Netflix’s “historical past is about including an increasing number of” content material and selection.
Through the listening to, Sarandos argued that streaming is a aggressive enterprise and pointed to Google, Apple, and Amazon as “deep-pocketed tech corporations making an attempt to run away with the TV enterprise.” He tried to downplay considerations that Netflix might turn out to be a monopoly by emphasizing YouTube’s excessive TV viewership. Nielsen’s The Gauge tracker reveals which platforms People use most when utilizing their TVs (versus laptops, tablets, or different gadgets). In December, it stated that YouTube, not together with YouTube TV, had extra TV viewership (12.7 p.c) than some other streaming video-on-demand service, together with second-place Netflix (9 p.c). Sarandos claimed that Netflix would have 21 p.c of the streaming market if it merged with HBO Max.
