Paramount just trumped Netflix's Warner Bros deal, but I don't see how this will be good news for any of us

If you've ever sat at an auction and heard the staccato voice of the auctioneer, you might have a fair understanding of what it's like right now in the wild bidding for Warner Bros.

Warner Bros, home of Superman and Batman, might seem somewhat esoteric to you, but its ownership will likely affect the quality and cost of streaming favorites, including HBO Max and HGTV, TCM+, as well as access to many of their cable counterparts, like Cartoon Network, TNT, Adult Swim, and many more.

As of last week, Netflix made the huge blockbuster $82.7B offer for Warner Bros, sans CNN and some other bits and pieces. The offer was accepted, and the only hurdle, a large one, mind you, was regulatory approval for something that, even with the carve out of some content, might equate to a US streaming monopoly.

While some were arguing that if you accept YouTube as a streaming business, it would be larger than even Netflix and Warner Bros combined, Paramount just swooped back in with a $108B hostile bid.

The ink on Paramount's own change of ownership, from the Redstone Family to the David Ellison-backed Skydance, is barely dry, but Paramount and Ellison made it clear, even before Netflix's deal was accepted, that it was unfair and they were strongly opposed to it.

Now there's an all-cash offer for all of Warner Bros. that, by most measures, beats what Netflix promised.

Into the IP mixing bowl

It's head-spinning stuff, but depending on who wins (if either does), your viewing experience could change at home and in the theater.

If Netflix wins, there is some concern, despite promises that even Warner Bros's biggest theatrical releases – think the upcoming Supergirl movie from DC Studios – might get short shrift in theaters and make a beeline to streaming on HBO Max (or whatever Netflix calls it) or even Netflix itself.

Some consumers might be pleased, since they hate going to the movies anyway, but filmmakers still love to deliver a big-screen experience and dream of those huge blockbuster weekends, though they are now few and far between.

Netflix's plans to leave CNN behind might prove problematic for the news network, unless it can find a big parent.

But let's look at the Paramount deal for a minute.

Again, this combines potentially even more intellectual property (Netflix has very little of its own, and most of it, even Stranger Things, is short-term, not decades-long prospects).

Paramount, for instance, has the entire Star Trek franchise. Can we imagine the crossovers between Bugs Bunny and Captain Kirk?

And does SpongeBob become an official Warner Bros. character?

Aside from IP concerns, what would a combined Paramount/Warner Bros. mean for our streaming costs?

What about us?

So far, we have not seen combined streaming platforms result in lower prices. The bigger the company, the more content they have to produce, which leads to higher costs and, surely, higher prices, which we have no choice but to pay or cancel the service.

The X factor here, though, may be the Trump administration.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump professed admiration for Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos but also acknowledged concerns about a monopoly.

The Paramount deal might look more attractive to Trump for several reasons.

First, he's close with the Ellisons. David's father, Larry Ellison, owns Oracle, the company that is supposedly taking ownership of the TikTok algorithm (and part of TikTok). Trump publicly supported the sale of Paramount to David Ellison's company. And since Paramount plans to buy all of Warner Bros, they could kill or consume CNN, a network Trump notoriously hates.

But wait.

As of this morning, Trump's had a change of heart about Paramount after 60 Minutes, one of the CBS News network's premier investigative journalism programs, ran an interview with outgoing US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene that did not put Trump in the best light.

Naturally, Trump unloaded on Paramount in a Truth social post, railing, "THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP."

Suddenly, a smooth ride for a Paramount/Warner Bros. merger seems less likely.

In the meantime, Paramount has put some effort into turning Warner Bros.' head, even launching a website detailing all the ways their offer is better.

So far, Warner Bros. has not formally accepted Paramount's rival offer, but whatever happens, nothing is certain until regulators approve, Trump is happy, and everyone signs on the dotted line.

As for us mere streaming consumers, the situation remains, for now, unchanged, but know that whatever the outcome, it's unlikely to truly benefit any of us.

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