I know all the big stories right now concerning the future of Warner Bros Discovery center around Paramount. And in the end, that company and its backers can probably write the biggest check of any company in the contenders list. But let’s think about how transformative it would be if it were Netflix that buys Warner Bros Discovery instead.
While a lot of mergers don’t work for one reason or another, especially when a company buys something from a totally different universe, like the failed AT&T/Time Warner merger, Netflix buying into a compnay with legacy TV and studios and channels could have some very interesting effects on the market.
Yes. Intellectual property is always a big draw. That was a major focus of Disney with its purchases over the past decade, but it is not everything. Netflix has been hugely successful in building up new ideas and making them household names. I think there is a totally different way Netflix would make such a merger work.
Netflix would have a home for its content on pay TV
While the focus of the TV world is all about streaming lately, part of the reason that has happened, is that TV networks have almost de-emphasised scripted TV over the years. Major broadcast networks have leaned heavily on competition shows, from cooking to performing, or even worse, reality shows.
With networks like TNT and TBS in the fold, Netflix could open its library to an audience for shows that never picked up steam on the streamer. For all of its hits, there are a number of unappreciated shows that could find an audience if properly advertised without the need to produce anything new. It would be new to the audience.
Make Netflix part of TV agreements
Like Disney, Netflix could use traditional TV contracts as leverage to get more out of Netflix. If it is able to build value out of the numerous Discovery channels and TNT and TBS it could then negotiate for Netflix to be part of more TV set-top box interfaces. If there are any stones to turn over and find new customers, traditional TV customers may be just that demo.
What would it do with the numerous apps?
Unlike Paramount’s theoretical plans, Netflix would have little reason to merge HBO Max into the Netflix app. Paramount+ has a lot more room to grow as far as its content library, while Netflix has a deep well of originals and contracted content.
Though when it comes to Discovery+, I could imagine sunsetting Discovery+ and building the content into Netflix. Pulling the Discovery programming from HBO Max entirely and letting the streamer again concentrate on premium originals and its deep film library from WB and Turner would add new shine to the premium network. The content from Discovery networks would fit right in with Netflix, from its true crime shows and docs, to cooking and home shows.
Why haven’t I talked about the movie studio? Because I don’t think that it is a medium that will drive the future. As much as I wish this was not the case, we all know the movie business is struggling. It has become the home of the big, glitzy blockbuster and nothing else. The reason is partially related to a shift to streaming and of course, any number of other economic and social behavioural issues. Netflix or whatever the company would be called, could still, of course, lean on tentpoles like the newly established DCU. But the trend is towards studios becoming streaming properties and not the other way around.
