Netflix Only Buying Warner Bros. To Sabotage A Rival Streamer?

Written by Chris Snellgrove | Updated 22 seconds ago

Yesterday, Netflix confirmed something that once seemed unthinkable: the streaming giant has reached a “definitive agreement” to purchase Warner Bros. Entertainment. (more specifically, film and television studios) for a staggering $83 billion. There are many miles to go before any such deal can be finalized, but fans everywhere are wondering how this will affect major WB franchises from Harry Potter to the DCU. However, these fans may have nothing to worry about: according to one compelling conspiracy theory, Netflix made its huge offer simply to prevent Paramount from buying Warner Bros. And you may not end up buying the movie studio.

If you didn’t already know, Paramount was Netflix’s main competitor during these negotiations, and the studio was hoping to acquire Warner Bros.’ And their own exciting content library for themselves. Paramount had previously made a $60 billion offer, but the offer was rejected; Paramount has since reportedly accused WB of favoring Netflix during this sale and will likely take legal action. It’s interesting that the federal government may get involved, especially since Variety reported that a group of prominent executives have reached out to congress and asked them to closely examine Netflix’s potential violation of existing antitrust laws.

A conspiracy was born

But why do a growing number of competitors believe Netflix is ​​trying to buy Warner Bros.? Just to beat Paramount, the developer of rival streaming service Paramount+? The main reason is that whoever successfully purchases WB will have access to an extensive content library featuring some of the world’s most popular franchises, including Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and the DCU. If Paramount wins, it will have a library that could threaten Netflix, but Netflix adding WB content to its own extensive library will cement it as the largest and most popular streamer.

Additionally, Paramount just completed a high-profile merger with Skydance, and they have expressed that they will stop trying to make Oscar-worthy arthouse films in favor of whatever appeals to the most people. The purchase of Warner Bros. Now would help Paramount achieve its short-term goal by giving it a myriad of high-profile IPs that it could develop into sequels, prequels, reboots, and spin-offs. It would also achieve Paramount’s long-term goals of becoming more competitive in theaters and in streaming.

Defeat Paramount, once and for all

Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. It would prevent Paramount from achieving any of these goals, while also enabling the original streamer to develop new shows and movies, and avoiding subscriber turnover due to the heavy influx of new content. So why do some Internet conspiracy theorists think Netflix might not ultimately care whether it can buy the World Bank? Beyond the fact that the federal government may close the sale (to prevent Netflix from having a border monopoly), the plain fact is that Netflix wins even if it simply delays Paramount for the years it would take for a high-profile lawsuit to resolve.

Simply put, Netflix is ​​already the most powerful streaming service in the world, having grown from 21.5 million subscribers in 2011 to 300 million subscribers in 2024. By comparison, Paramount+ will be lucky to reach 80 million subscribers in 2025. At this rate, Paramount will never catch up to its competition, and the only thing that could help it get close is getting to Warner Bros.’ An extensive content library and a collection of great intellectual properties.

Will Paramount collapse on its own?

As of this writing, Netflix has successfully prevented this from happening, and even if (like when) they end up in court over this, there will be another few years where Paramount won’t be able to get this much-needed content. By the time everything is resolved, Netflix will have improved its lead so much that even Paramount’s purchase of WB won’t help it climb to the top. Furthermore, there’s a non-zero possibility that Paramount could collapse on its own in the next few years thanks to controversial decisions like ditching long-established Star Trek lore in favor of yet another reboot.

Only time will tell if Netflix manages to close this deal or if everything from bad negotiations to federal intervention prevents that from happening. However, the veteran streaming company successfully beat out Paramount, the only studio that was in danger of outbidding Warner Bros.’ This could buy Netflix all the time it needs to secure itself as the dominant streaming service, even if it potentially destroys the entire movie industry as we know it.