After a few weeks of three-way negotiations, it is finally Netflix that has won, with $82.7 billion ahead, take over Warner Bros.. Which includes, of course, HBO Max, but also the entire production arm of the veteran company, one of the few majors classics that remain in Hollywood. However, the purchase is of such importance that a multitude of questions arise, many of them still unanswered. This is everything we know (and don’t know) about this absolute revolution in the world of streaming.
What we do know. Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery have announced an agreement that radically transforms the entertainment industry. The operation, which is expected to close between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027, unites the streaming giant and its more than 300 million subscribers with one of Hollywood’s most legendary film studios, founded more than a century ago. For now, Netflix must wait for CNN and Discovery to finish separating from what was their parent company. And now, the doubts.
What will happen to Warner’s classic IPs and franchises? Netflix takes over a trove of intellectual property that includes the DC universe‘harry potter‘, ‘game of thrones‘, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo and the distribution rights to franchises such as ‘Dune‘ or the Monsterverse. It also acquires film classics such as ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Casablanca’ and ‘Citizen Kane’, as well as emblematic HBO series such as ‘The Sopranos’, ‘The Wire’ and others close to the platform such as ‘Friends’.
Netflix will most likely keep these franchises active and continue them. The company has stated in its statement that these IPs will allow “creating greater value for talent, offering more opportunities to work with successful intellectual property.” The big advantage for consumers is certainty: One of the fiercest criticisms of Warner Bros. Discovery under David Zaslav was the removal of content from HBO Max for tax reasons. Netflix has opposite incentives. Who knows…and if we get to see ‘Batgirl’?
What has Netflix not bought and what Warner divisions and businesses are not included in the purchase? The deal completely excludes Warner Bros. Discovery’s global networks division, which will be spun off into a new company called Discovery Global. This spin-off has been planned since June 2025 and will be completed in the third quarter of 2026, before Netflix can close the acquisition, and includes assets such as CNN, TNT Sports in the United States, all Discovery channels (Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TBS, TruTV), the main free-to-air television channels in Europe, the Discovery+ streaming platform and Bleacher Report.
This split makes strategic sense: Netflix has never shown interest in the traditional linear channel business, which is in structural decline. In fact, revenue from Warner Bros.’ cable television division. fell 23% in the last reported quarter. Netflix stays with what really interests it: production studios, content libraries and HBO Max.
Are HBO Max prices going to rise? The most immediate answer is that most likely yes, although not immediately. Netflix has a documented history of regular increases: Since 2017, the platform has raised its rates by approx. every 18 months. The most recent one occurred in January 2025. However, the arrival of HBO Max changes the equation. When Disney acquired Fox in 2019 for 71 billion, Disney+ increased its price by 129% between 2019 and 2025.
We must not be naive: with 302 million global subscribers after acquiring the 128 million of HBO Max, Netflix would exceed 420 million, a huge base where small increases will generate billions of dollars in additional income. Our bet: a single premium price between 20 and 25 dollars/euros per month by 2027, when the deal is underway.
What does Netflix get apart from the catalog? Beyond content libraries, Netflix acquires monumental physical and operational infrastructure. You get the historic Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, a production facility that has been operational since the 1920s and includes multiple sets and top-of-the-line technical equipment. The company has emphasized that this will allow them to “significantly expand American production capacity.”
Perhaps most transformative is the global theatrical distribution apparatus. Warner Bros. has deals with networks around the world, a network that Netflix has never fully developed. Netflix will inherit “a global distribution apparatus” which includes contracts, commercial relationships and an army of professionals: human teams made up of executives and creatives with decades of experience. Will you take advantage of it? Netflix has promised maintain “Warner Bros.’ current operations, including theatrical releases for films,” but frankly, and seeing Netflix’s relationship with theaters in recent years, there is reasonable room for skepticism.
How is Netflix’s presence on HBO going to be creatively noticed? Speculative territory, but we can reason from the corporate cultures of each platform. HBO built its reputation through a creative process where pre-production is vital, with constant rewrites and only the best series receiving the green light. A meticulousness that has historically paid off, for example, at the Emmys. Netflix is just the opposite: it renews and cancels without stopping, trying many things and sticking with what works.
Possibly we will see a hybridization where HBO maintains its distinctive seal of quality, less fast food than Netflix, but accelerating production rates. As a curious note, in the presentation in London to which We attended just a couple of days ago The current CEO of HBO, Casey Bloys, highlighted the differences in creative approaches with Netflix as one of its strengths. Maybe everything will change from now on.
What legal problems may arise for the purchase? The regulatory hurdles are substantial. The combined entity would exceed 420 million global subscribers, giving it more than 30% of the streaming market, a threshold traditionally considered problematic in US antitrust law. Republican Representative Darrell Issa warned this month that Netflix already possesses “unmatched market power” and that adding HBO Max “could result in harm to consumers.” Senator Mike Lee was more forceful, declaring in X that this transaction “raises serious competition issues, perhaps more so than any transaction I have seen in a decade.”
Netflix knows this, and has included a break clause of $5.8 billion if regulators block the deal, an extraordinary figure that reflects the magnitude of the risk.
When will we start to notice palpable changes? Don’t expect immediate transformations. The official calendar establishes that the separation of Discovery Global will occur in the third quarter of 2026, and only then will Netflix be able to close the acquisition, something expected between 12 and 18 months from the announcement, that is, between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027. Even after legal closure, the technical integration of platforms will take additional time.
Mergers of this caliber require migrating metadata libraries, renegotiating licensing agreements, and unifying data infrastructures. streaming. The first noticeable changes will probably arrive in 2027: perhaps a single interface, new productions that take advantage of Warner IPs, and price adjustments. Think about this: how long has it taken you to watch Predator or Wolverine movies made by Disney since the purchase of Fox?
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