President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed he recently met with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos at the White House to discuss the Warner Bros. Discovery deal — and said the market share of a combined Netflix with WB and HBO Max “could be a problem.”
Trump, speaking with reporters on the red carpet of the Kennedy Center Honors event in Washington, D.C., said Netflix’s deal to acquire Warner Bros. studios and streaming business will require a review, and said, “I’ll be involved in that decision.”
Trump said that the government review of Netflix’s proposed $83 billion deal for Warner Bros., which was announced Friday, must “go through a process, and we’ll see what happens.”
According to Trump, Sarandos visited the Oval Office last week. The Netflix exec is “a fantastic man,” the president said. “I have a lot of respect for him, but it’s a lot of market share.”
Trump also said of Sarandos, “He’s a great person… He’s got a lot of interesting things happening aside from what you’re talking about, but it is a big market share. There’s no question about it. It could be a problem.”
The Netflix deal for Warner Bros. is both a horizontal merger between rival streaming services and a vertical merger, adding a massive distribution pipeline for Warner Bros. content. It could also shrink the marketplace for content producers.
The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are expected to review the Netflix-WB deal. The FCC is not expected to play much (if any) role in the review because of the nature of assets involved; WBD does not own broadcast TV stations or cable systems.
Sarandos, speaking on a call with Wall Street analysts Friday, expressed optimism that the deal will clear regulatory approval. Netflix and WBD projected the deal will close in 12-18 months.
“[We are] really confident that we’re going to get all the necessary approvals that we need,” Sarandos told analysts. “This deal is pro-consumer, pro-innovation, pro-worker, it’s pro-creator, it’s pro-growth.”
