Photo: Everett Collection
Here’s looking at you, Ted: It turns out that, in addition to HBO and the Warner Bros. film studio, Netflix may soon run Turner Classic Movies. Though it wasn’t mentioned officially in any press releases announcing the deal last week, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. networks division confirms that TCM will be part of the studios and streaming division of Warner Bros. that Netflix is currently trying to buy. Given that TCM licenses so many movies from the historic WB library, this is probably a good thing, though there are still plenty of uncertainties about what comes next for the beloved channel.
The fate of TCM has been a bit cloudy since the WB-Netflix deal was unveiled, in part because in general, Netflix is not buying the cable networks owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. (Those networks include CNN, HGTV, TNT, and Cartoon Network, among others.) Instead, at some point next summer, those channels are supposed to be spun off into a new unit called Discovery Global Networks, while the rest of WBD — the WB film and TV studios, HBO, and HBO Max — continues on as Warner Bros., with current CEO David Zaslav in charge.
Netflix will then try to close a purchase of Zaslav’s portion of the company, which, in addition to the film and movie studios and HBO, includes smaller divisions such as DC Comics, theme park holdings — and, yes, Turner Classic Movies, we’ve learned. “TCM will be a part of Warner Bros. (Studios), post the company’s planned separation in 2026,” a representative from WBD told Vulture Monday evening.
While neither WBD nor Netflix had publicly commented on TCM’s post-Netflix sale fate before Monday, this statement does fit squarely with what we knew before last week’s surprise acquisition announcement. A few weeks after WBD announced its plan to split the company in June, the New York Times and other outlets reported that TCM would end up in the networks division. However, WBD followed up by telling Variety that, actually, TCM programming and strategy for the network would be overseen by Zaslav and Warner Bros. Pictures chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy (with the spun-off Discovery Global lending a hand on business operations, like dealing with cable operators). The new statement confirms that the Warner Bros. Picture bosses will still run TCM after next summer’s split — and, more importantly, that TCM will be a part of the company Netflix is trying to buy.
TCM wouldn’t be the only linear cable channel Netflix would gain under the deal with Warners: It is also planning to take control of the linear HBO network, allowing HBO and HBO Max to remain connected. It seems possible Netflix could work out an arrangement with Discovery Global, at least in the short term, to oversee both HBO and TCM’s relationships with cable companies, since Netflix has zero experience running linear channels. Plus, Netflix probably has better things to do than to build a new team to deal with things like cable affiliates or making sure the TCM and HBO signals get to linear customers. That said, Netflix so far is not commenting on how it plans to run linear HBO, or the fact that it appears to be inheriting TCM. But that’s understandable given both how new the deal is, and how far away we are from Netflix actually, legally taking over any part of Jack Warner’s old empire.
