Netflix Opportunities and Anxieties, Merger Hurdles to Come, Hollywood’s Endgame and What Comes Next
Episode publishedPodcast: Sharp Tech with Ben ThompsonSharp Tech with Ben Thompson
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Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Sharp Tech. I'm Andrew Sharp, and on the other line, Ben Thompson. Ben, how you doing?
I'm doing well, Andrew. I'm I'm girded. Is that the word? Girded girded for battle.
Are girded? Sure.
We have both written about Netflix and Warner Brothers this week. I think some excellent points on both sides and some possible points of contention.
I would imagine there are some points of contention. We're gonna talk through every aspect of the Netflix Warner Brothers proposed merger, and we're gonna begin with Jean at UVA who sent this email on Friday night. He wrote, Ben and Andrew, my friends and I found out about the Netflix Warner Brothers deal, and our immediate reaction was devastated. We have to wait till Monday for the Ben Thompson take on this. And he included a picture of him and his two friends at an ice cream shop with their heads in their hands really laying on the drama. Just tremendous nerd behavior that made my Friday ni
I did do an emergency podcast with Michael Nathanson about this deal on Sunday. And we could have gotten out on Monday, but I'm not gonna lie. This picture in the message made me feel like, no. Needed to get my takeout first, and then I dropped the interview on Tuesday. So it turns out can be can be affected and influenced. So, thank you. Thank you for the note. It was very funny.
Absolutely. So as we talk through this deal, we did get a request for a good old fashioned antitrust.
I know it's been a while.
I wanna put a pin in the regulatory angle at the top and focus first on the Netflix side. It's funny because you mentioned the Netflix Warner Brothers possibility, like, maybe six weeks ago in a daily update. And when I was reading that daily update, my honest reaction at the time was, man, I'm surprised Ben is even dignifying these rumors because Netflix, I mean, they've become known for their restraint and fiscal discipline over the last couple years, and Warner Brothers has been sold four times since 2001, and it just seemed like a crazy idea.
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