On today’s episode of Decoder, I’m talking about the bidding war over Warner Bros. Discovery, which is the biggest story in the entertainment industry right now, and for good reason. It has pretty much everything you could want in a buzzy Hollywood saga — big names, big money, and big drama.
Right now, the winning bidder is Netflix. The streaming juggernaut won the bid for Warner Bros., offering $83 billion dollars for the movie studios, but not the cable channels, to keep its content machine humming for more than 325 million subscribers.
But Paramount Skydance simply won’t go away, even though the official process is over. The company has bid, bid again, and is now attempting a hostile takeover to the tune of $108 billion for the whole package, including those cable channels. Paramount is run by David Ellison, the son of Oracle cofounder and tech billionaire Larry Ellison, and I have to say his whole vibe feels ripped straight from an episode of Succession. This man is desperate to become a bona fide media mogul, using the combination of Paramount, his dad’s ever-growing AI money, and the good graces of the Trump administration to make it happen.
Caught up in the middle of all this are HBO, CNN, and Warner Bros. Pictures. Despite world-class brand recognition, legitimate megahits, and legendary franchises, these companies have been so historically, comically mismanaged under a long series of clueless corporate parents that the whole bundle has ended up sold, merged, or spun off into something new more times than I can count. Seriously, it’s mind-boggling how badly companies like AOL, Time Warner, and AT&T have fumbled this over the last 25 years.
To help me make sense of it all, I wanted to talk with Julia Alexander, a Verge alum and now media correspondent at Puck News who’s one of the best in the business at analyzing corporate strategy, Hollywood, and what’s next in entertainment. Julia really helped me break down why Netflix wants Warner Bros. and why David Ellison seems to think he’s got a better (or even different) strategy than current Warner Bros. boss David Zaslav. Perhaps most importantly, we also discussed how the tech industry fits into this puzzle.
Because central to the pressure facing Hollywood today, as you’ll hear Julia explain, is the battle for our attention, and that battle is being fought by everything: from video games like Fortnite and Roblox to short-form video on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Soon, all of these platforms could be flooded with cheap, endless AI video. It seems that only a few companies, Netflix chief among them, seem to have any plan whatsoever for when that wrecking ball finally hits. If you’re a longtime Decoder listener, you know I really love talking to Julia about Hollywood and the entertainment industry. This episode is no different.
If you’d like to read more about what we discussed in this episode, check out these links:
- Netflix is buying Warner Bros. for $83 billion | The Verge
- Paramount launches a hostile $108 billion bid to snatch Warner from Netflix | The Verge
- Netflix revises Warner Bros. bid to an all-cash offer | The Verge
- Why Netflix needs Warner Bros. | Puck News
- The Warner Bros. bidding war is over | Bloomberg
- The Son King of Hollywood | Vulture
- FCC Chair: ‘Legitimate competition concerns’ with Netflix’s Warner Bros. deal | Variety
- Netflix chief Ted Sarandos to testify at antitrust hearing over Warner deal | Variety
Questions or comments about this episode? Hit us up at decoder@theverge.com. We really do read every email!
Decoder with Nilay Patel
A podcast from The Verge about big ideas and other problems.
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