While Sarandos faced a few questions regarding the deal’s impact to consumers — he argued “we will give consumers more content for less,” pointing out that 80% of HBO Max subscribers also have a Netflix subscription — as well as the effect on competition in Hollywood.
Ted Sarandos walked into a Senate antitrust hearing on Tuesday to ostensibly assuage any competition concerns with the streaming giant’s $87 billion deal to buy Warner Bros. What ended up happening was a largely meandering two-hour grievance fest that saw multiple Senators focus on anything but how Netflix buying the storied studio would impact Hollywood writ large.
While Sarandos faced a few questions regarding the deal’s impact to consumers — he argued, “we will give consumers more content for less,” pointing out that 80% of HBO Max subscribers also have Netflix subscriptions — as well as the effect on competition in Hollywood.
In one memorable moment, Sarandos argued that after the deal they’ll still have separate teams for HBO and Netflix to bid for content.
