Netflix’s surprise $72 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery’s storied film studios and streaming business has set Hollywood and Wall Street abuzz, but the road ahead is anything but smooth. The blockbuster deal, unveiled on December 5, 2025, would hand the streaming giant control of one of the entertainment industry’s most coveted archives—decades of Warner Bros. Pictures films, the HBO brand, and the streaming service HBO Max. Yet, as the dust settles, a swirl of political, regulatory, and competitive drama is already threatening to upend what many assumed would be a straightforward merger.
President Donald Trump, who confirmed he met with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in the Oval Office just weeks before the deal was announced, struck a characteristically cautious note when pressed by reporters. “I’ll be involved in that decision,” Trump said as he arrived at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington on December 7, according to Reuters. He elaborated, “They have a very big market share. When they have Warner Bros., that share goes up a lot. That’s going to be for some economists to tell… But it is a big market share. There’s no question it could be a problem.”
Trump’s measured stance was echoed by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Republican Senator Mike Lee, who chairs the antitrust committee, warned the deal “should send alarm to antitrust enforcers around the world.” Meanwhile, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat and vocal critic of corporate consolidation, labeled the proposed merger an “anti-monopoly nightmare,” arguing it would force “Americans into higher subscription prices and fewer choices over what and how they watch, while putting American workers at risk.”
Despite the skepticism, Netflix is expected to mount a robust defense. According to Bloomberg, the company plans to argue that its true competitors extend well beyond traditional streaming rivals. Executives are likely to point to Alphabet’s YouTube and ByteDance’s TikTok as direct adversaries, hoping to convince regulators that the streaming landscape is far broader than it appears, thereby diluting concerns over Netflix’s dominance.
The regulatory gauntlet awaiting the merger is formidable. Unlike some past media tie-ups, the Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery deal will be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice rather than the Federal Communications Commission, since Warner Bros. Discovery does not hold a TV license. The deal will also face scrutiny from the European Commission and other international regulators—a process that has historically dragged on for months, if not years. Industry analysts Blair Levin of New Street Research and Doug Creutz of TD Securities have both predicted the Department of Justice might challenge the merger, citing multiple potential roadblocks.
The size and scope of the deal are eye-popping by any measure. With debt included, the transaction’s value balloons to more than $82 billion. Netflix, already the world’s largest streaming service with over 300 million subscribers, would gain control over not just the Warner Bros. Pictures archive but also the vaunted HBO brand and its streaming platform. Notably, the deal does not include Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable networks such as CNN and TNT, which will remain separate.
Netflix’s campaign to win favor in Washington has been anything but subtle. As reported by Bloomberg, Sarandos spent over an hour in mid-November at the White House with President Trump, pressing the case for his company’s bid. The two reportedly discussed the Warner Bros. Discovery auction at length, with Trump telling Sarandos that Warner Bros. should “sell to the highest bidder.” Sarandos, for his part, insisted that Netflix is not a monopoly and reminded the president that the company had suffered its own subscriber losses in recent years.
Yet, the political winds remain unpredictable. Trump, who has reshaped the relationship between corporate America and the federal government during his tenure, has a history of getting personally involved in high-profile mergers. The Paramount-Skydance merger, approved during Trump’s presidency after a contentious back-and-forth, only received the green light after Paramount agreed to several concessions, including a $16 million payment to Trump’s future presidential library and changes to CBS News’ diversity programs.
There’s also the matter of competitive intrigue. Paramount Skydance, having lost out on the Warner Bros. Discovery auction, is reportedly considering a hostile takeover. According to Stocktwits and other investor chatter, the company may pitch Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders on an all-cash, $30-per-share offer—arguing its bid is not only richer but also faces fewer regulatory hurdles. Retail investor sentiment for Paramount Skydance (PSKY) has been “extremely bullish” since Netflix’s announcement, with one user summing up the mood: “$PSKY hostile takeover is imminent now. News should be heating up this week.”
If Paramount does go hostile, it would add yet another twist to an industry already no stranger to mega-mergers. In recent years, the sector has witnessed AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner (which took 20 months to close), Disney’s $71 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox assets (completed in 15 months), and Microsoft’s $68.7 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard. Each of these deals required significant concessions to win regulatory approval—AT&T and Time Warner, for instance, pledged a seven-year “no blackout” guarantee for Turner networks, while Microsoft committed to making “Call of Duty” available on non-Xbox platforms for a decade.
In the case of Netflix and Warner Bros., the stakes are even higher. The deal would consolidate a vast trove of intellectual property under one roof, potentially reshaping not just the streaming landscape but the entire entertainment industry. Critics warn that such concentration could stifle competition, drive up prices, and reduce creative diversity. Supporters counter that the combined company would be better equipped to fend off global tech giants and invest in new content.
The uncertainty has already rippled through financial markets. Following Trump’s remarks on December 7, the probability of the deal closing by the end of 2026, as measured by prediction market Polymarket, plummeted from 60% to just 23%. Meanwhile, PSKY shares shed 10% on the Friday after the announcement, as investors braced for a possible hostile move.
As the Justice Department prepares to review the merger and European regulators sharpen their pencils, all eyes remain on Washington. Trump’s role—unusual for a sitting president in such antitrust matters—adds a layer of unpredictability, especially as he has signaled he’ll consult economists and stay personally involved. “We’ll see what happens,” he told reporters, leaving the fate of Hollywood’s biggest deal in years hanging in the balance.
For now, the only certainty is that the coming months promise high drama, with corporate titans, politicians, and regulators all jockeying for position as the entertainment industry faces its biggest shakeup in decades.
