President Donald Trump said Sunday that Netflix’s plan to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share.
Speaking on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors, Trump said he would be involved in the decision about whether the federal government should approve the roughly USD 72 billion deal. If regulators approve it, the merger would place two of the world’s largest streaming services under one owner and combine Warner’s television and motion-picture operations, including DC Studios, with Netflix’s extensive library and production arm.
“The deal has to go through a process and we’ll see what happens,” he said. “Netflix is a great company. They’ve done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man,” Trump added, referring to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, whom he said he met in the Oval Office last week before the Dec. 5 announcement.
Trump noted the enlarged market share the combined company would hold. “I have a lot of respect for him, but it’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens,” he said. Asked whether Netflix should be allowed to buy the studio behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max, Trump replied, “Well, that’s the question. They have a very big market share, and when they have Warner Bros., you know, that share goes up a lot, so, I don’t know. I’ll be involved in that decision, too.”
Trump said Sarandos made no commitments about the merger during their meeting but praised him as “a great person” who has “done one of the greatest jobs in the history of movies and other things.” He reiterated that the enlarged market share “could be a problem.”
