Netflix’s Sarandos: Big Tech is trying to “run away with the television business”

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos testified before the Senate antitrust subcommittee in a packed hearing room on Tuesday, reflecting the intense public and regulatory interest in the company’s efforts to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $83 billion.

Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief revenue officer, Bruce Campbell, took questions from subcommittee members around the merits of their deal. Paramount CEO David Ellison reportedly turned down an invitation to appear.

“This is not an either-or situation. With either merger, another corporation will gain significant control over what we see, what we hear, and what we consume,” Democratic Senator Cory Booker said in his opening statement.

Sarandos, in his opening statement, remarked that 80% of Netflix subscribers also subscribe to HBO Max.

“This is not a typical media merger where you end up with what’s called the Noah’s Ark problem: two of everything,” Sarandos said.

In questioning, Sarandos pointed a finger at deep-pocketed tech companies including Google, Amazon, and Apple, which he said are trying to “run away with the television business.” These companies, Sarandos said, have changed what TV is, and Netflix needs to grow in order to compete with them.

Broadly, the two executives attempted to allay fears that the proposed merger would result in entertainment industry job cuts, fewer US productions, fewer buyers of original content, and higher subscription prices for consumers.

WBD’s Campbell told Senator Adam Schiff that the proposed merger would not result in layoffs. In response to Senator Josh Hawley, Sarandos said that the combined company would increase US production in the next two years.

The executives testified that writers and content creators could sell their projects to either Netflix or HBO, rather than the entities being combined into one buyer. In recent years, media consolidation has resulted in fewer buyers of original scripts across the entertainment industry, Hollywood insiders say.

Sarandos also recommitted to a 45-day exclusive theatrical release window for Warner Bros. films, though certain windows could shift based on box office performance.

Republican senators repeatedly questioned Netflix’s “political agenda” and “woke programming,” reflecting broad conjecture that Netflix’s acquisition could run into issues beyond typical antitrust grounds with the Trump administration.

“I think the president, from my experience, has been nothing but interested in protecting and creating American jobs,” Sarandos said, following Senator Booker’s questions about President Trump’s potential involvement in the merger review.

“The larger problem that we have is that corporate power is growing in the United States of America in a staggering way, creating disparities of wealth that were unconscionable, even unimaginable just a generation ago,” Senator Booker said. “I do not trust this administration in their evaluations.”

Following Tuesday’s hearing, event contracts around the deal were largely unchanged as of 4:40 p.m. ET.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)