The people and industry have spoken: Netflix potentially buying Warner Bros. for $83 million is pretty bad!
On Thursday night, news broke that Netflix is looking to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $83 million. And on Friday morning, the agreed-upon verdict was that this is going to suuuuuuuuuuck.
All over the internet, the news elicited reactions of dismay, shock, and anger at one of the longest-running companies in Hollywood history going up for sale. Other candidates to potentially grab the studio behind DC, Cartoon Network, TCM, and way more included Paramount, Apple, and Universal, with Netflix making a case for itself in pledging to keep WB movies in theaters. (Just how long is up for debate.) As the world awaits to see if this deal will actually go through, organizations, politicians, and creatives in the industry, none of them positive.
The Writers Guild of America, for example, said Netflix buying Warner Bros. “is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent. The outcome would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers. Industry workers along with the public are already impacted by only a few powerful companies maintaining tight control over what consumers can watch on television, on streaming, and in theaters.
