By William Goodeve

I studied cinema and economics at USC/USF. Also I have worked in several jobs and internships in the Entertainment Industry. I interned at a Production Company and a Literary Agency. I worked as a PA and also at some theaters and theme parks.

There was a bidding war for Warner Brothers Studios. Netflix and Paramount were both trying to acquire it. Comcast, who owns NBC Universal,  also made a bid for WBD early on. Paramount outbid Netflix and now they are in the process of finishing the deal. This is fascinating because WBD owns Max and Paramount Skydance owns Paramount Plus, which are two streaming services. Warner Brothers Studios, Universal Studios, and Paramount are old film studios from around the Golden Age of Hollywood.

”Warner Bros. Discovery set a Nov. 20 deadline for first-round bids, which would be nonbinding.”(Variety) Comcast, who owns NBC Universal, also bid for Warner Brothers on November 20, 2025. Later on, most of the bids were made by Paramount Skydance and Netflix.

Netflix officially announced its bid for Warner Brothers on November 20th 2025.On December 4th, 2025: Netflix won the first auction phase and obtained negotiation rights. On December 5th, 2025,  Netflix had a $72 billion deal to acquire Warner Brother’s Discovery film studio, television studios, and Max. On February 27th, 2026 Netflix got outbid when Paramount Skydance countered with a higher offer of $110.9 billion.

Paramount Skydance began trying to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery with bids in November 2025. In November 2025: Paramount submitted its first bid ahead of Warner Brother Discovery’s deadline of November 20th On December 8th, 2025: After Warner Brothers Discovery started making a deal with Netflix, Paramount launched a takeover bid trying to acquire all outstanding shares.On February 27th, 2026 after a competitive bidding war, Paramount ultimately made a definitive $110.9 billion merger agreement with Warner Brothers Discovery.

The United Kingdom has cleared Paramount Skydance’s “$111 ⁠billion acquisition of Warner Bros. on both competition and ⁠public interest grounds after Paramount beefed up promises ​about ​programming ⁠and news provision in the country.” (Variety) So Comcast and Netflix lost the bidding war for Warner Brother Discovery. 

Additionally the Paramount CEO said that Paramount and Warner Brothers will have an annual 30 film slate. It will be interesting to see which movies they make and if more will be produced from WBD or Paramount. Paramount made 8 to 9 films in 2025 and 15 in 2026. WB was making about 14 movies per year. Now the two studios are planning to make 15 films each, per year, after the merger. It would have seemed quite different if Netflix outbid the other studios. They have the most revenue of any streaming service.

“Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD): Trades around $27.20 with a market value near $68.1 billion. Netflix, Inc. (NFLX): Trades around $75.18 with a market value near $313.0 billion. Paramount Skydance Corporation (PSKY): Trades around $9.30 with a market value near $10.4 billion.” (Google) “Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) closed at $25.20 on August 10, 2026”. Also the company has a market capitalization of approximately “$90 Billion.” (Google)

Overall, I think this merger sounds like it will help Paramount Skydance become a bigger company. It would have been neat to see WB movies on Netflix, or Netflix and Max becoming one streaming service. I think now they could possibly make Paramount Plus and HBO Max into one app. Alternatively they could just put more WBD films on Paramount Plus. I am excited to see when this deal goes through. 

“Paramount delivers premium content to audiences across platforms worldwide.” (Paramount) They connect with billions of people. They have studios, networks, streaming services, and live events. Paramount is a great studio, they are located near Hollywood Blvd and made the  “Indiana Jones” and “The Godfather” films. Paramount Pictures Corporation was founded in 1914. I toured Paramount Studios in 2016, it was very fascinating. I got to see some of their Academy Awards and the classic Paramount gate. I also toured Warner Brothers Studios in 2016, it was neat to see the old Warner Brothers water tower and drive around in golf carts. Their TV Station CBS was founded in 1927. They made “The Twilight Zone” and “Star Trek”

Warner Brothers is also an awesome film studio, they are located in Burbank, California. Also, they made “DC Universe” films and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.  “WARNER BROS. is a fully integrated entertainment company and a global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of entertainment.”(Warner Bros).Warner Brothers started as a company in 1923 when 4 brothers decided to make a movie company. WBD owns HBO who made “Game of Thrones” and “The Sopranos”.

“As a global media and tech company, Comcast reaches hundreds of millions of customers, viewers, and guests with world-class connectivity and platforms and beloved content and experiences.” (Comcast) This company owns NBC Universal. They made many Spielberg films and Dreamworks. They also own Universal Parks and Resorts. Universal was founded in 1912. Their TV Station NBC was made in 1926. Later on they made “Seinfeld” and “Saturday Night Live”.

“We are here to entertain the world, one fan at a time.” (Netflix) Netflix started as a DVD rental service through the mail, then they became more of a Streaming service. They also produce shows and films such as “House of Cards” and “Stranger Things”. Netflix was founded in 1997, they launched their DVD rental website in 1998, and introduced their streaming service in 2007.

Citations

Barraclough, Leo. “U.K. Approves Paramount-Warner Bros.. Merger.” Variety, Variety, 6 Aug. 2026, variety.com/2026/biz/global/uk-paramount-warner-bros-merger-1236828958/.

Google Search, share.google/aimode/ETDKX4Yw9G0OEvN7x. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Google Search, share.google/aimode/2hOIsznUhtVK5Fiv7. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

variety.com/2026/film/news/david-ellison-theater-owners-guarantee-30-movies-paramount-warner-bros-merger-1236830791/.

“Company Overview.” WarnerBros.Com, www.warnerbros.com/studio/about/company-overview. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Netflix – About, about.netflix.com/en.

“About.” Paramount, www.paramount.com/about. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Spangler, Todd. “Warner Bros.. Discovery Bids Are Due This Week. How Do Paramount, Netflix, Comcast Stack Up?” Variety, Variety, 18 Nov. 2025, variety.com/2025/biz/news/warner-bros-discovery-bids-paramount-netflix-comcast-1236584564/.

Google Search, share.google/aimode/I76nRgVwxcpyu6SxF. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Google Search, share.google/aimode/btnpVTncOgV9WjQp4. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.