Netflix/Warner Brothers Deal On The Rocks?

NBC News Radio National Correspondent Rory O'Neill joins us to discuss the latest in the "hostile takeover" that Netflix is attempting. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's get the latest on that Netflix Warner deal. Could
it be on the rocks? And what is a hostile takeover? Anyway?
This is West Michigan's Morning News Steve Kelly, Brent Makita,
Rory O'Neal, and we see News Radio national correspondent on
the liveline. Rory, thanks for doing this today.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, there's Steve. Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
So let's talk a little bit about what is at
stake here, who wants to buy what and how does
a hostile takeover change that?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Well, look, a couple weeks ago, Paramount came in and said, hey,
Warner Brothers, Discovery, we want to buy you. But then
Netflix swooped in with a better offer, and then that
sounded like that eighty two billion dollar deal was done.
But Paramount says, hold on, not so fast. We're making
a better offer and we want this deal. So now
that really has set things spinning because the latest Paramount

(00:48):
offer essentially offers about thirty dollars per share for the company,
which is better than the twenty seven that Netflix has
been offering. Plaus the folks over at Paramount say, we're
more likely to pass regulators review because this really is
a very, very big deal in the media landscape.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Saw that the President weighed in on this that he
may have something to do with it, but he's not
real close to either side of this thing.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
So all wait in a minute, now, hang on, because
his son in law is part of the financing deal
for Paramount, so there may be a family tie here.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Ah oh, I love that show. So the hostile takeover part.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
It better be available on Netflix because you're not going
to see it anywhere else.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
The hostile takeover thing just means that we're going to
go right to the stake of the shareholders right and
leave everybody else out.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Of it right, essentially saying, hey, shareholders, vote for this
deal because we're going to give you three bucks more
per share than the other guys will. And look, in
real terms, here are some of the other talking points
out there. Netflix says it wants to bring in all
the great historical productions from Warner Brothers. Under one roof.
You get HBO Max sort of absorbed by Netflix and

(02:06):
they say, see, we've got everything. Paramount comes out and
says you create that they're like going to have six hundred,
seven hundred million subscribers. They will be an eight hundred
pound gorilla in this business, and then the quality of
news shows is going to fail because well, really, no
one else can compete. They also say Netflix, if it
owns Warner Brothers, it'll essentially destroy the experience of going

(02:28):
to the movies. They won't put stuff in a movie theater,
They'll just stream it instead. Paramount also says that by
combining Paramount with Warner Brothers, essentially they'll become a strong
number two, making the business better for everyone.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
What is the most attractive there of the things that
you laid out, is it Warner Brothers or is it
HBO and HBO Max now.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
A tractor for whom If you work in the news
room at CNN and CBS, this isn't good for you. Yeah,
because if Paramount takes over Warner Brothers, then that likely
means that CBS and CNN don't need both of them,
So they might figure out some way to have both
of those come together. You know, Netflix doesn't really have
the history of managing a news network at the same time,

(03:13):
so how would they handle what's going on at CBS.
So that's an interesting twist to how that could unfold.
And look, some of these WB discovery programs channels are
also being spun off prior to this deal, So this
is complicated and it's not going to happen by the
end of the year. Might not happen by the end
of twenty twenty six either, even if this does move forward,

(03:33):
so long term, there are a lot of pluses and
minuses across the board to this deal.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Rory O'Neil, NBC News Radio National Correspondent, Thank you, Hey,
Thanks Steve