The Man Who Wants Netflix to Save Hollywood

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News, Business News

4.2 • 5.8K Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2026

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Netflix is in a high-stakes fight to buy storied movie studio Warner Bros. The company has a $72 billion deal in hand, but rival Paramount isn't going down without a fight. At the helm of the streaming giant is co-CEO Ted Sarandos, whose strategies have helped transform the entertainment industry. WSJ’s Joe Flint says that Hollywood’s creatives were once enamored with Netflix’s approaches but have grown more wary of what new changes could come with consolidation. WSJ’s Ryan Knutson hosts. Further Listening: - Netflix’s Fight for Warner Just Got Harder - Hollywood Jobs Are Disappearing Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ever since Netflix announced a deal to acquire Warner Brothers back in December,
0:10.4	some Hollywood creatives have been shaking in their boots.
0:14.5	A lot of the concern is just sort of that these guys are the disruptors from Silicon Valley.
0:20.6	They're a tech company.
0:22.3	That's my colleague Joe Flint.
0:23.9	What are they going to do?
0:25.0	And we're all going to be making movies and TV shows based off their algorithms
0:29.2	and creativity will fly out the window.
0:31.9	So all the Netflix boogie monsters are coming out right now.
0:38.3	The deal isn't yet finalized, but if Netflix is successful, the merger would create a
0:43.3	Hollywood behemoth, marrying the world's biggest streaming service with one of Hollywood's most
0:48.3	storied studios filled with an important IP.
0:51.3	Hollywood would prefer that no one buy Warner Brothers, because anytime one of these companies
0:56.1	get sold, there's one fewer entity to sell a project, too.
0:59.5	There's one fewer company to do business with.
1:03.7	And one of the men who'd be at the helm of this new entertainment juggernaut is Netflix
1:08.3	co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
1:13.6	Does Ted Sarandos want to be the king of Hollywood?
1:20.0	Some might argue Ted is already the king of Hollywood, but if he gets the Warner deal, he'll have a castle to go with his kingdom. Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.
1:28.4	I'm Ryan Knudsen.
1:30.4	It's Thursday, January 8th.
1:37.6	Coming up on the show, The Rise of Ted Sarandos and his fight to win Warner.
	...

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