What consequences after the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance?

Netflix withdrew from the race and made a good financial transaction in the process.

The race to buy Warner Bros. Discovery ended with a twist on Thursday with the withdrawal of Netflix. The platform with the red N refused to increase its offer to 83 billion dollars, to align with that of Paramount Skydance which put 111 billion on the table for the entire group, as well as its network of cable channels.

But is this a defeat for Netflix? The group announced Friday that it had received 2.8 billion from Paramount, due to an agreement signed with Warner in the event of termination of the agreement. And the market reacted positively. Netflix stock soared more than 8% on Friday, increasing its market capitalization by $20 billion.

“It was clearly the right decision for Netflix to make“, estimates an analyst cited by The French Film. According to him, the group would have “paid too much for Warner’s streaming services and studios when it didn’t need them, given the very good health of its activities“.

It should be noted that Ted Sarandos, the CEO of Netflix, met Donald Trump at the White House a few hours before this announcement, without the content of their discussion being disclosed…

The acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026. David Ellison, Paramount’s CEO, explained that the group’s goal had always been “to honor the legacies of two iconic companies while accelerating our vision of a next-generation media and entertainment group“.

What consequences for the future of theatrical releases? Paramount Skydance ensures that the two studios will continue to co-exist and will release 30 films per year (15 each). An unrealistic promise according to many insiders. In 2025, Warner had released 11 feature films, and Paramount only 9, the smallest number for an American major.

“Each film will benefit from a worldwide theatrical release with a minimum window of 45 days before transactional VOD, with the objective of 60 to 90 days or more for the biggest hits“, also declared Paramount Skydance, while ensuring that it would respect the French media chronology.

According to Business InsiderDavid Zaslav, the CEO of Warner, for his part was very satisfied with the deal on Friday, speaking to his employees. “Together we can be a great company. It’s not easy, but we are getting stronger. And everyone envies you in this business.”

Zaslav justified the operation by explaining that “these companies are getting so huge they can run over us“. For comparison, Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube, has a turnover of more than 400 billion, compared to 37 billion for Warner Bros. Discovery.

The CEO of Warner, however, recalled that the deal was not yet closed, even if all the lights are green. “If it doesn’t happen, we’ll get 7 billion and we’ll go back to work“.

By purchasing Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Skydance will notably take over the Warner Bros. film studio, the streaming platforms HBO Max and Discovery+, as well as several cable channels such as CNN and TNT.