Netflix’s executive directors, Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos, sent a letter to the platform’s workers, stating that there will be no closure of studios or overlapping of functions, in a scenario of acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
In the document, obtained today by Bloomberg, Peters and Sarandos say that the acquisition aims to “strengthen one of Hollywood’s most iconic studios, support employment and ensure a solid future for film and television production.”
The two responsible also reaffirm their commitment to maintaining Warner Bros. releases. in movie theaters.
Paramount and Netflix, two giants of the North American audiovisual industry, are locked in a battle for the acquisition of the historic Warner Bros. Discovery.
On the 5th, Netflix and Warner announced an agreement, in which the producer and streaming platform undertakes to acquire the entirety of Warner, including debt, for 82.7 billion dollars (around 71.15 billion euros).
Paramount entered the fray three days later, with a hostile takeover bid worth $108.4 billion (around €93.2 billion) for all of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The battle between the two giants paves the way for greater business concentration in a sector dominated in the United States by a limited core of large groups covering cinema, social media, television and streaming.
The announcement of the operation generated criticism from workers, unions, political and social sectors.
The Screenwriters Guild of America (WGA) denounced the operation as potentially violating anti-trust laws, and Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Richard Blumenthal warned the Department of Justice of the risk that the new company could “increase television prices in an inflationary environment”.
Republican Senator Mike Lee, for his part, said this bill “should alarm competition authorities around the world.”
The International Cinema Union (UIC) also expressed its “strong opposition” to the purchase of the Warner Bros. studios. Discovery by Netflix, warning of the risk of reducing the number of films in theaters, among other consequences.
The executive president of UIC, Laura Houlgatte, stated that, if the deal goes through, it will represent “a double risk”.
“If a studio disappears, it inevitably means that cinemas will have fewer films to show to their audiences, which leads to reduced revenue, cinema closures and job losses in the industry”, said the official, adding that, “in many ways, this is worse than the purchase of one studio by another”.
Netflix’s executive directors, Peters and Sarandos, say that Netflix and Warner have a lower audience share than YouTube, as well as that resulting from a possible merger with Paramount.