After remaining silent for a very long two days, US president Donald Trump has said Netflix would have “a lot of market share” if the $82.7bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery’s (WBD) studios and streaming assets is approved.
Speaking to reporters prior to Kennedy Center Honours in Washington DC on Sunday, Trump said: “That’s got to go through a process, and we’ll see what happens. Netflix is a great company. They’ve done a phenomenal job. Ted [Sarandos, co-CEO] is a fantastic man. I have a lot of respect for him. But it’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens.”
Trump confirmed he met with Sarandos in the Oval Office last week but did not give any guarantees to the executive. “He’s done one of the greatest jobs in the history of movies and other things,” Trump said of Sarandos. “[B]ut it is a big market share […] and that could be a problem.”
The proposed deal would bring Netflix’s market-leading streamer subscriber count of more than 300m and HBO Max’s 128m membership under one roof. While it remains to be seen if HBO Max will become a tile on Netflix’s home page, remain as a stand-alone, or something else, it faces regulatory scrutiny.
Department of Justice and state attorneys general are likely to look into potential monopoly and public good implications. It is thought the Federal Communications Commission will not get involved as WBD is not transferring linear assets to Netflix.
Trump will almost certainly speak more on the matter, given his predilection for involving himself in many areas of American public and business life.
No comments yet