Netflix Wins Warner Bros. Discovery: IP, Antitrust, & Rivals 12/05/25

Squawk Pod

CNBC

Business News, Investing, Business, News

4 • 494 Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Netflix has reached a deal to buy Warner Brothers Discovery film and streaming assets, ending a dramatic bidding war between Paramount Skydance, Comcast, and Netflix. Andrew Ross Sorkin, Becky Quick, and Joe Kernen examine the terms, the break-up fees, the regulatory risks, and the math for shareholders with CNBC’s David Faber. Together, they consider whether Paramount Skydance owner David Ellison will pay the breakup fee and what players are willing to pay for key intellectual property. Entertainment journalist and Puck founding partner Matt Belloni offers his insight from sources inside Hollywood and warns, many creatives in the industry are not happy about the deal. David Faber - 10:41 Matt Belloni - 21:05 In this episode: Matt Belloni, @MattBelloni David Faber, @davidfaber Becky Quick, @BeckyQuick Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawk Andrew Ross Sorkin, @andrewrsorkin Cameron Costa, @CameronCostaNY

Transcript

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0:00.0	Bring in show music, please.
0:03.0	This is Squawk Pod, and I'm CNBC producer Cameron Costa.
0:08.0	On today's episode, Netflix wins the bidding war for Warner Brothers Discovery, at least for now.
0:15.0	How this huge deal will play and pay out with CNBC's own reporting thanks to Andrew Ross Sorkin.
0:22.9	My sources this morning are now saying that Paramount had bid $30.
0:28.9	And thanks to David Faber.
0:31.2	It's an enormous premium that Netflix is willing to pay here, 85% of it in cash.
0:37.1	We're doing the transaction math for shareholders.
0:40.1	Do they value the enviable margins?
0:42.5	Is it back to content as king?
0:44.3	The power of intellectual property with a very plugged-in Hollywood journalist Matt Bellany.
0:51.1	I don't think Netflix is buying warners for the stock value.
0:56.1	They've got that.
0:56.9	What they need is to grow subscribers
0:59.6	and to grow the overall audience.
1:03.0	Plus Hollywood's reaction.
1:05.1	The industry is not excited about this.
1:07.1	I mean, my DMs and techs blew up last night
1:09.9	with some pretty dour messages.
1:13.0	And one of the biggest questions hanging over it all, how Netflix and Warner Brothers
1:17.7	discovery might win over regulators. It's not just in the context of streaming itself,
1:24.2	but to look at it in the context of time spent online, eyeballs and the like.
	...

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