NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. is telling company shareholders that it believes a $72 billion takeover offer from Netflix is superior and to reject a hostile takeover offer from Paramount Skydance.
Paramount became hostile to its offer last week, asking shareholders to reject the Netflix deal favored by the Warner Bros. board.
Paramount is offering $30 per Warner share, or $77.9 billion, compared to $27.75 per Netflix share.
A Warner Bros. merger with either company would alter the landscape in Hollywood and face intense scrutiny from U.S. regulators, affecting movie production, consumer streaming platforms and, in the case of Paramount, a major source of news for millions of people.
Competitive offers set the stage for combining some of the most beloved entertainment properties. Netflix’s vast library includes “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game,” while the much smaller Paramount owns its Hollywood studio and major television networks such as CBS and MTV. Both covet Warner, which owns Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO and the Harry Potter franchise.
“Whichever media company, if any, ultimately secures (Warner), controls the calculus of the streaming wars and much more,” said Mike Proulx, vice president and director of research at research firm Forrester.
Both deals will face regulatory scrutiny, an issue that President Donald Trump has already weighed in on.
Here’s what you need to know about the three players and what the deals mean for the entertainment industry.
A look at the offers
CEO David Zaslav has been seeking offers for Warner Bros. Discovery since at least octoberwhen he said the company might be willing to sell all or part of its business.
Paramount said on Monday that it had submitted six proposals to Warner over a 12-week period before its offer was rejected in favor of Netflix.
So Paramount decided to go directly to Warner shareholders with an offer it says is worth about $79.9 billion, or $30 per share in cash. Paramount, unlike Netflix, is also offering to buy Warner’s cable assets and is asking the company’s shareholders to reject Netflix’s offer.
Paramount CEO Larry Ellison said the offer is worth about $18 billion more in cash than Netflix’s competing cash-and-stock offer.
The Paramount deal includes help from investors such as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and funds controlled by the governments of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to a regulatory filing.
Netflix is offering a combination of cash and stock valued at $27.75 per Warner share. Its offer values Warner at $72 billion, excluding debt, but it is not bidding for Warner-owned networks such as CNN and Discovery.
Prior to Paramount’s offer, the Netflix deal was expected to close in the next 12 to 18 months, after Warner completes the previously announced separation of its cable operations.
Competitive offers make an eventual agreement more likely
Matthew Dolgin, senior equity analyst at research firm Morningstar, said there are still many unknowns, including whether Netflix will now upgrade its offer.
But, he said, a competitive bid makes it more likely that Warner will eventually be acquired.
“Now that Paramount is also formally involved with an offer to shareholders, it is even more likely to us that Warner will be acquired, because it is no longer a one-time decision that may or may not depend on regulatory approval,” he said.
Shareholders have until January 8, 2026 to vote on Paramount’s public offering.
Donald Trump intervened earlier
Another wild card could be President Trump. He’s already weighed in on the deal, saying Netflix’s bid to buy Warner “could be a problem” because of the potential audience size.
The Republican president said he will participate in the decision on whether the federal government should approve the deal.
Paramount’s CEO is the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, a Trump ally. Federal regulators under Trump approved Paramount’s $8 billion merger with Skydance in July.
Regulatory scrutiny awaits any deal
As for the Netflix offering, state or federal regulators might be more concerned about the sheer size of a combined Netflix and Warner subscription service, Morningstar’s Dolgin said. Netflix is already the largest streaming service in the world.
That’s less of a concern with the Paramount deal, because its streaming service is smaller and has a smaller international footprint than Netflix. But regulators may raise red flags about the combination of the Paramount and Warner film and television studios, because relatively few of them remain, Dolgin said.
A pattern of media acquisitions
As streaming platforms have matured, more media companies are seeking growth through acquisitions.
Warner Bros. Discovery was created in 2022 when American telecommunications giant AT&T Inc. spun off and then combined its WarnerMedia operations with Discovery Inc.
In 2021, Amazon said it would buy MGM, the film and television studio behind James Bond, “Legally Blonde” and “Shark Tank.” Disney bought the Fox entertainment service in 2019.
“Tech always faces this pattern of new companies, a lot of different players, legacy companies coming into action, and ultimately a lot of consolidation,” said Forrester’s Proulx. “And this is the state we are in now in the saga of the streaming wars, and in 2026 we will see continued consolidation.”
