Politicians aren't happy with the Netflix-Warner Bros deal. Here's why.
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Netflix announced it will buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion in one of the most colossal deals in recent Hollywood history. The deal gives the streaming giant control of rival HBO Max and a storied film studio.
But the acquisition is already facing political pushback.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the merger “an anti-monopoly nightmare,” arguing that a combined Netflix–Warner Bros. would control nearly half of the streaming market, drive up prices for consumers, limit content choices and put workers at risk. She also criticized the Trump administration’s track record on antitrust enforcement, calling it “a cesspool of political favoritism and corruption.”
While Netflix won the bidding war for Warner Bros.' studio and streaming assets, it has been the political underdog compared with David Ellison-led Paramount Skydance, which has close ties with the Trump administration.
As the process played out, Republicans in Congress warned that a Netflix acquisition would reduce choice for consumers and give the company an unacceptably high share of the streaming market.
U.S. Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah who leads the antitrust subcommittee, said Wednesday, Dec. 3, that a Netflix buy of Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming assets "should send alarm to antitrust enforcers around the world."
Republicans Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas and Representative Darrell Issa of California also called on U.S. antitrust enforcers last month to scrutinize the deal, saying it could lead to fewer movies in theaters.
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The deal is sure to shift the streaming landscape. Here's what industry experts are saying about how it might reshape Netflix and the streaming world.
Why are streaming services consolidating?
Streaming services have struggled to turn a profit because they need to attract many millions of paying customers to cover the costs of all that programming.
The struggle for profitability has brought consolidation. Disney bought Hulu in 2019. WarnerMedia and Discovery merged in 2022, leading to a combined HBO Max and Discovery+. Paramount and Skydance Media announced a merger earlier this year.
Streaming-service mergers have entered the zeitgeist. In the 2025 Apple TV series "The Studio," the season finale pivoted on suspense around the potential acquisition of the fictional Continental Studios by Amazon.
Some critics fear the Netflix-Warner deal will make Netflix too big. The merger could give the combined business more than 30% of the streaming market, “a threshold traditionally viewed as presumptively problematic under antitrust law,” U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, wrote in a Nov. 17 letter to the Justice Department.
What does this mean for Netflix subscribers?
The Netflix-Warner Bros. deal gives the biggest streaming service access to "a huge library" of Warner Bros. films, said Kathryn Harrigan, Henry R. Kravis Professor of Business Leadership at Columbia Business School. "It's going to be a bigger library than anybody else has."
Netflix could make that catalog available to its subscribers, including the Harry Potter films, "Barbie" and several iconic Batman movies. But the streaming giant could also decide to hold back most of that content, or to make it available only to users who pay extra for an expanded subscription — a sort of Netflix+.
The merger "will mean maybe some better choices each month for the subscribers," Harrigan said. "But it doesn't mean you'll have everything that's in the grocery store."
Netflix could also opt to charge subscribers extra to watch popular Warner Bros. films. Harrigan notes that Amazon Prime has used that strategy for years. "You can get any movie that's been made if you're willing to pay a small fee," she said.
If there's an obvious downside to the Netflix-Warner deal, it could be higher subscription fees. Netflix already hiked prices at the start of 2025.
"Consumers are tired of the price increases," said Kourtnee Jackson, senior editor, streaming and home entertainment, for CNET. But the Warner Bros. deal could give Netflix a pretext for another one.
Who streams? Who still watches cable?
Streaming is king. A large majority of American consumers, 83%, use streaming services, according to a 2025 survey by Pew Research Center. Only 36% still subscribe to cable or satellite television.
Age matters. Streaming is nearly universal among consumers under 50. By contrast, only 65% of seniors use streaming services, Pew Research found.
The typical streaming customer subscribes to four services and pays $69 a month, according to Deloitte research.
Gen Z and millennials are more active streamers. They subscribe to five services, on average. Half of younger streamers say they’ve cancelled a streaming subscription in the last six months, a habit called churning.
If the goal of cord-cutters was to save money, they’ve succeeded. Cable and satellite customers pay $125 a month, Deloitte found.
Among streaming services, Netflix is king
Among streaming services, Netflix reigns supreme. Here are the top streaming services, according to Pew Research:
Netflix (72% of adults watch programming on the service)
Amazon Prime Video (67%)
Hulu (52%)
Disney+ (48%)
Paramount+ (44%)
Peacock (41%)
HBO Max (41%)
Apple TV+ (25%)
With the prospective merger of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, analysts say, Netflix is looking even more like the winner of the streaming wars.
“The global media industry stands at the precipice of historic transformation, with [Warner Bros. Discovery] positioned at the epicenter,” said Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich in a recent report, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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