Everyone wants a piece of Warner Bros.

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Marketplace

News, Business

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today, we're walking you through the Hollywood drama currently unfolding over Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio's board has already approved an acquisition deal with Netflix, but now Paramount is launching a hostile takeover bid. We'll outline the stakeholders and talk about what comes next. Plus, as New York City leads the nation in office-to-housing conversions, other cities are looking to encourage their own affordable developments.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Netflix versus Paramount to grab Warner Brothers? Is it news that Hollywood likes drama? I'm David Brancaccio in Los Angeles. Let us update the competition for the Hollywood studio Warner Brothers Discovery. Now Paramount is launching a bid, a hostile one, because Warner Brothers Board already approved a deal with Netflix. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall-Genser joins us now. Hostel versus friendly? How's this work?
0:27.2	Well, this type of transaction is not always welcomed by the Target company's board of directors.
0:32.6	That is certainly the case here since the Warner Brothers Board has cited with Netflix. But Paramount is
0:39.0	appealing to Warner Brothers shareholders. It says it's offering them a better deal, even if it's a
0:44.5	hostile one. And there's a crucial role for Warner Brothers shareholders here, which could help
0:50.6	Paramount prevail. Well, they still have to approve the Netflix deal. It's not at all final.
0:56.9	If enough Warner Brothers investors sell their shares to Paramount, it could get a majority stake.
1:02.5	Then it could install board members who would approve its hostile bid. A hostile bidder can also ask shareholders to replace board members with people who support the
1:11.2	hostile acquisition.
1:13.1	Right, but even with shareholder and board approval, any deal has to be approved by federal
1:18.0	regulators, and they could be worried about creating a monopoly here.
1:22.9	Right, especially since Paramount wants to buy all of Warner Brothers, including its cable channels.
1:28.3	Netflix just wants Warner Brothers film and TV studios plus HBO.
1:32.8	Paramount CEO David Ellison says Netflix's deal would combine the biggest and third biggest
1:38.3	streamers in the country.
1:39.3	He says that raises antitrust concerns.
1:42.6	But Netflix CEO Ted Sarandoz says the Warner Brothers
1:45.8	transaction gets it into businesses. It's basically not in right now.
1:50.2	Now, President Trump has weighed in here. He says he will be involved in the approval process for any deal,
1:56.0	which is unusual for a president.
1:58.6	Nancy, thank you. The Trump administration is clearing the way for
2:01.8	NVIDIA to begin selling one of its most advanced microchips to China, a significant easing of
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