Osmond Chiabusiness reporter
fake imagesUS President Donald Trump has flagged potential concerns about Netflix’s planned $72 billion deal to buy the Warner Brothers Discovery movie studio and the popular HBO streaming networks.
At an event in Washington DC on Sunday, he said Netflix has a “huge market share” and that the combined size of the companies “could be a problem.”
On Friday, the two companies said they had reached a deal to bring Warner Brothers franchises such as Harry Potter and Game of Thrones to Netflix, creating a new media giant.
The planned deal, which has raised concerns among some in the industry, must still be approved by competition authorities. The BBC has contacted Warner Brothers, Netflix and the White House for comment.
Launched in 1997 as a postal DVD rental company, Netflix has grown to become the world’s largest subscription streaming service. The deal, the largest the film industry has seen in a long time, would cement its number one position.
Under the deal, several global entertainment franchises, including Looney Tunes, The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings, would move to Netflix.
The deal is expected to be completed after Warner Bros. splits its business in the second half of 2026.
The U.S. Justice Department’s competition division, which oversees major mergers, could hold that the deal violates the law if the combined businesses represent too large a slice of the streaming market.
At an event in At the John F Kennedy Center in the US capital, Trump stated that Netflix has a “very large market share” that would “increase a lot” if the deal goes ahead.
Trump added that he would be personally involved in the decision whether or not to approve the deal and repeatedly highlighted the size of Netflix’s market share.
He also said that Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos recently visited the Oval Office and praised him for his work at the company.
“I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a great person,” Trump said. “He has done one of the best jobs in the history of cinema.”
Sarandos previously acknowledged that the deal may have surprised investors, but said it was an opportunity to position Netflix for success for “decades to come.”
Netflix beat out several rivals such as Comcast and Paramount Skydance to reach a deal with Warner Bros.
Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, had previously attempted to buy all of Warner Bros., including its cable networks.
Warner Bros. rejected that approach before going on sale.
David Ellison’s billionaire father, Larry Ellison, is a close Trump ally.
The Eastern and Western branches of the Writers Guild of America called for the merger to be blocked, saying that “the world’s largest streaming company swallowing up one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent.”
“The result would eliminate jobs, reduce wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, increase prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers,” he said Friday.
