Ted Sarandos

It's going to be Netflix or it's going to be Paramount.

And if it's Paramount, they've told everybody what they're going to do.

They're going to have six, they've said $6 billion in cuts, but they've also told everyone who they're borrowing the money from that they're gonna de-lever the company from six or seven times down to two times in 18 months, which means $16 billion in cuts.

So that's what the trade unions who represent the people who make movies, writers, directors, producers,

the crews of IATSE and the Teamsters, they're going to be working in a business that's going to be $16 billion smaller, even than the $3 billion that Paramount has already cut out of its own company.

So you're talking about an enormous contraction of the business, and the trade unions, I think, should come out and support this deal explicitly on behalf of their membership to protect employment and jobs.

We will continue to offer it as a standalone unit.

80% of HBO Max subscribers in the United States have a Netflix subscription today, actually closer to 85%.

So I think what that says is this is a very complimentary business, and we'll be able to put those businesses together and give those consumers a pretty steep discount.

So that we're excited to do, and that's why I think this will be pro-consumer, because I think consumers have already said these are complimentary businesses that they today pay a 100% premium for.

We've granted the seven-day window to get some clarity about the Paramount deal because Paramount has been out spreading a lot of misinformation to shareholders, into the markets, into regulators, in ways that have run the narrative to a state of confusion.

I think it'll be really interesting to watch this hearing because there are a couple of different topics that could come out.

The first is this merger and how it will play out in light of overall questions around mergers and acquisitions more generally.

We certainly have seen increased scrutiny, particularly in the tech sector, and a concerning shift at times away from that focus on consumers.

but also because this will inevitably bring up other topics potentially related to tech policy.

Will we see questions around content moderation or speech or any other number of the topics that have come up around tech companies and their decisions also come up in light of this particular hearing?

One of the real questions in examining this potential transaction is going to be that question of market definition.

Who exactly does a combined Netflix and Warner Brothers compete with?

Is it the wide array of streaming services, which we see many pop up all the time?

Disney has its own, as you just referenced, but there are also very specialized streaming services.