Netflix Leaders Visit Warner Bros. in Show of Force Amid Paramount Fight
As the future of the studio hangs in the balance, Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix leaders put on a show of force Wednesday afternoon when Netflix brass paid a visit to the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, where WBD chief executive David Zaslav gave them a guided tour.
WBD released photos to media outlets late Wednesday that show Zaslav strolling the famed studio lot with Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, who are co-CEOs of the streaming giant.
“Today, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav welcomed Netflix Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters to the historic Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank to meet with leaders across the company,” according to the caption that accompanied the photos. A rep for the studio did not immediately respond to a request for further comment. A source close to the situation confirmed the veracity of the photos.
Sarandos and Peters met with a handful of Warner Bros. employees and even took some questions.
Sarandos and Peters’ trek to Burbank came on the same day that the WBD board reaffirmed its decision to sell Warner Bros. and HBO to Netflix and once again rejected the latest offer from Paramount Skydance. The fight over the fate of Warner Bros. blew wide open earlier this month when Paramount went public with its effort to amass control of the company through a tender offer to shareholders. WBD, meanwhile, clinched an agreement with Netflix that values the company’s key assets — Warner Bros. and HBO — at $82.7 billion.
Paramount’s aggressive overtures in September and October put Warner Bros. Discovery in play. Netflix swooped in with a cash-and-stock bid that has won over the WBD board of directors. Paramount is offering all cash for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, including the company’s linear cable channels, while Netflix is only buying WB and HBO. Paramount asserts that its offer is better for WBD shareholders because it is for the entire company, and Paramount has warned that Netflix will struggle to secure regulatory approval for such a big deal because of its dominant position in subscription streaming.
WBD has countered that it has concerns about the source of the funds behind Paramount’s bid. It also makes the case that Netflix is in a better financial position to support Warner Bros. and HBO operations.
