US President Donald Trump, on 7 December, raised concerns over potential antitrust “problems” in streaming giant Netflix Inc.'s acquisition of rival film studio Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., according to reports.
He said he would personally step in to check the deal process and details, Bloomberg reported.
Netflix-Warner deal: What did Donald Trump say
“Well, that’s got to go through a process, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said while speaking to reporters at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
Trump also confirmed that he met Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. While he complimented the company, he added that the acquisition is a matter to consider, “but it is a big market share. It could be a problem.”
Netflix has “a very big market share, and when they have Warner Bros, you know, that share goes up a lot,” the president said. Bloomberg and Reuters both reported Trump confirming he would be personally involved in overseeing the process.
“I'll be involved in that decision,” Trump told reporters as he arrived at the Kennedy Center for its annual awards show, Reuters said.
However, he did not indicate which way his decision would lean. “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 said, according to the Reuters report.
Long road to done: Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros raises red flags
The Bloomberg report added that Netflix's $72 billion offer for Warner Bros Discovery would create the world's largest streaming player, while swallowing up the fourth-largest rival, HBO Max. It is this market share expansion that has raised concerns from antitrust regulators.
According to the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division, Netflix's deal could be deemed illegal as the combined market share with Warner would put it beyond the 30% threshold, the BB report said. The Justice Department could be the governmental body to review the deal.
Notably, Netflix is expected to contend that video platforms YouTube (Google) and TikTok (ByteDance) be included in the market analysis, which would “dramatically” reduce its “perceived” market dominance, the Bloomberg report added.
Looking to clear the way for the controversial deal, Netflix's Sarandos recently met with Trump at the White House. Sources told Bloomberg, “Netflix wasn’t any kind of all-powerful monopoly, the executive argued at that time and had suffered its own subscriber losses a couple of years earlier.”
(With inputs from Agencies)
Key Takeaways
- Trump's intervention highlights the growing scrutiny of market consolidation in the streaming sector.
- The proposed acquisition could significantly alter the competitive landscape, pushing Netflix's market share past regulatory thresholds.
- Antitrust regulators may consider broader market definitions, including emerging platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
