{"id":67428,"date":"2025-12-08T14:20:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T14:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/12\/08\/trump-warns-netflix-warner-deal-may-pose-antitrust-problem\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T14:20:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T14:20:09","slug":"trump-warns-netflix-warner-deal-may-pose-antitrust-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2025\/12\/08\/trump-warns-netflix-warner-deal-may-pose-antitrust-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump warns Netflix-Warner deal may pose antitrust \u2018problem\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><\/div><p> \n<br \/><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Amazon movies boost to Cineplex blockbusters\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B3rQIFaXv-c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p> United States President <\/p>\n<p>                        Donald Trump<\/p>\n<p>                         raised potential <\/p>\n<p>                        antitrust concerns<\/p>\n<p>                         around <\/p>\n<p>                        Netflix Inc.\u2019s<\/p>\n<p>                         planned <\/p>\n<p>                        US$72 billion acquisition<\/p>\n<p>                         of <\/p>\n<p>                        Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.<\/p>\n<p>                        , noting that the market share of the combined entity may pose problems. <\/p>\n<p> Trump\u2019s comments, made as he arrived at the Kennedy Center for an event on Sunday, may spur concerns regulators will oppose the coupling of the world\u2019s dominant streaming service with a Hollywood icon. The company faces a lengthy Justice Department <\/p>\n<p>                        review of a deal<\/p>\n<p>                         that would reshape the entertainment industry. <\/p>\n<p> \u201cWell, that\u2019s got to go through a process, and we\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d Trump said when asked about the deal, confirming he met Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos recently. \u201cBut it is a big market share. It could be a problem.\u201d <\/p>\n<p> Bets on prediction marketplace Polymarket showed a 23 per cent chance of Netflix closing the acquisition by the end of 2026, down from around 60 per cent just before Trump\u2019s comments. Warner Bros. rose one per cent in early trading on the Blue Ocean trading platform, while Netflix dropped 1.4 per cent. <\/p>\n<p> The transaction would combine the world\u2019s No. 1 streaming player with HBO Max. The Justice Department\u2019s antitrust division, which would review the transaction in the U.S., could argue that the deal is illegal because the combined market share would put Netflix well over a 30 per cent threshold. <\/p>\n<p> Netflix has \u201ca very big market share, and when they have Warner Brothers, you know, that share goes up a lot,\u201d the president said, adding that he will be personally involved in the decision-making process. <\/p>\n<p> Netflix is expected to argue that other services such as Alphabet Inc.\u2019s YouTube and ByteDance Ltd.\u2019s TikTok should be included in any analysis of the market, which would dramatically shrink the platform\u2019s perceived market dominance. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==\" fifu-lazy=\"1\" fifu-data-sizes=\"auto\" fifu-data-srcset=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=75&resize=75&ssl=1 75w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=100&resize=100&ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=150&resize=150&ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=240&resize=240&ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=320&resize=320&ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=500&resize=500&ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=640&resize=640&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=800&resize=800&ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=1024&resize=1024&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=1280&resize=1280&ssl=1 1280w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1&w=1600&resize=1600&ssl=1 1600w\" alt=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-license-id=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"\" fifu-data-src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Netflix-Will-Top-All-Streamers-by-Revenue-If-Deal-Goes-Through-The-72-billion-Warner-Bros-takeover-faces-pushback-and-antitrust-concern.jpg?ssl=1\" title=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p> Netflix\u2019s Sarandos met with Trump at the White House recently to lobby for the acquisition, Bloomberg reported earlier. Netflix wasn\u2019t any kind of all-powerful monopoly, the executive argued at that time, and had suffered its own subscriber losses a couple of years earlier, according to people familiar with the matter. <\/p>\n<p> By choosing Netflix, Warner Bros. jilted <\/p>\n<p>                        Paramount Skydance Corp.<\/p>\n<p>                        , a move that risks touching off a political battle in Washington. Paramount is backed by the world\u2019s second-richest man, Larry Ellison, and has touted longstanding ties to Trump. The acquisition of Paramount, which closed in August, has won public praise from the president. <\/p>\n<p> U.S. lawmakers from both parties, including Republican Representative Darrell Issa and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, have already faulted the transaction \u2014 which would create a global streaming giant with 450 million users \u2014 as harmful to consumers. <\/p>\n<p> \u201cI don\u2019t think it really creates a monopolistic situation,\u201d Wall Street veteran Ed Yardeni, of Yardeni Research, told Bloomberg Television. \u201cTechnology monopolies don\u2019t last very long because somebody figures out how to compete against them, and there are certainly plenty of other streaming services.\u201d <\/p>\n<p> European Union regulators are also likely to subject the Netflix proposal to an intensive review. In the United Kingdom, the deal has already drawn scrutiny before the announcement, with House of Lords member Baroness Luciana Berger pressing the government on how the transaction would impact competition and consumer prices. <\/p>\n<p> Even if antitrust reviews just focus on streaming, Netflix believes it will ultimately prevail, pointing to Amazon.com Inc.\u2019s Prime and Walt Disney Co. as other major competitors, according to people familiar with the company\u2019s thinking. <\/p>\n<p> Netflix is expected to argue that more than 75 per cent of HBO Max subscribers already subscribe to Netflix, making them complementary offerings rather than competitors, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing confidential deliberations. The company is expected to make the case that reducing its content costs through owning Warner Bros., eliminating redundant back-end technology and bundling Netflix with Max will yield lower prices. <\/p>\n<ul class=\"related_links\">\n<li>Why Canadians should thank Donald Trump as majority plan to shun U.S. travel in 2026<\/li>\n<li>Hollywood writers say Warner takeover \u2018must be blocked\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <em>\u2014With assistance from Mar\u00eda Paula Mijares Torres, Mark Anderson, Vlad Savov, Suvashree Ghosh, Abhishek Vishnoi, Sohee Kim and Linus Chua.<\/em> <\/p>\n<p> Bloomberg.com <\/p>\n\n<br \/>Trump warns Netflix-Warner deal may pose antitrust \u2018problem\u2019<\/a><br \/>\n<br \/>2025-12-08 14:20:09<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United States President Donald Trump raised potential antitrust concerns around Netflix Inc.\u2019s planned US$72 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. , noting that the market share of the combined&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1209-mg-trump.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/67429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}