Netflix’s blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery is still echoing across Hollywood, and the Writers Guild of America has wasted no time planting its flag. Hours after Netflix and WBD announced the $82.7 billion agreement, the WGA, both East and West, issued a blistering statement warning that the merger represents precisely the kind of entertainment consolidation antitrust laws are meant to prevent.
The Guilds argue that the deal would shrink competition, squeeze workers, depress wages, reduce content diversity and ultimately harm consumers, laying down the bluntest opposition so far to what would be one of the largest entertainment mergers in history.
Their warning lands as Netflix makes its most aggressive play yet, securing Warner Bros. studios, HBO, HBO Max, and its vast library – from Game of Thrones and The Sopranos to The Wizard of Oz and the DC and Conjuring Universes – while preparing to fold them into a global streaming platform now unmatched in size.
Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters framed the acquisition as a leap forward in storytelling scale and global reach. Sarandos also reiterated that Netflix has “no opposition to movies in theaters,” promising to maintain Warner Bros.’ theatrical pipeline — including its output deals and long-standing release patterns — while hinting that windows will “evolve to be more consumer-friendly” over time.
Still, consolidation anxiety is rising across Hollywood. Exhibition groups have already voiced skepticism, and now the Writers Guild becomes the first major labor organization to take an openly adversarial stance, calling on regulators to stop the deal.
Read the complete WGA statement below:
The following is a statement from the Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) and Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) on the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Netflix:
The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent. The outcome would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers. Industry workers along with the public are already impacted by only a few powerful companies maintaining tight control over what consumers can watch on television, on streaming, and in theaters. This merger must be blocked.
The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) and Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) are labor unions representing writers in motion pictures, television, cable, broadcast news, podcasts and online media. The Guilds negotiate and administer contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of their members; conduct programs, seminars, and events on issues of interest to writers; and present writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America East, visit www.wgaeast.org. For more information on the Writers Guild of America West, visit www.wga.org.
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