In case you've missed the news, Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. That means Netflix and HBO Max, two of the biggest streaming services, will merge. While it sounds like they'll remain separate services — for now — that doesn't mean Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos doesn't already have a vision for how this mammoth media conglomerate will operate. Spoiler alert: Some big changes could be coming.
HBO will return to being the home of the prestige TV content that made it famous. Think less "Dune: Prophecy" and more "Task." That might not be such a bad idea after all.
“This is a prestige television brand that people really love," Sarandos said at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference (h/t Deadline Hollywood). "I would say that they have been doing gymnastics to make themselves into a general entertainment brand and I think under this transaction, they don’t have to do that anymore. We’re already a very well-established general entertainment brand, and we want HBO to double down on the things that people have loved for 50 years about HBO.”
This quote is loaded with implications for the type of shows Netflix envisions HBO producing going forward. DC Comics shows like "Lanterns"? They're not part of the future. The upcoming "Harry Potter" series? Don't expect future wizarding adventures to make their way to HBO beyond this reboot.
To be clear, I don't think Netflix is cancelling those specific projects. Nor do I think that "Harry Potter" will move from HBO to Netflix once this deal goes through. Most importantly, I don't think Netflix plans to stop making these types of intellectual property-driven shows. But I do think they're going to stop making them at HBO and start making them somewhere else — because that's exactly what Sarandos just told us.
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's worried that this Netflix deal will lead to fewer movies in theaters.
Netflix will handle the mainstream WBD shows going forward
In his quote at the UBS conference, Sarandos said, "We’re [Netflix] already a very well-established general entertainment brand." So if you're wondering who is going to take over making DC Comics, Harry Potter and other big IP shows, well ... it's going to be Netflix. After all, that's why they're buying Warner Bros. in the first place — they want the catalog of characters and brands.
That said, Netflix might not be the only place these shows are made. In a separate remark at the UBS conference, Sarandos shed some light on the future of Warner Bros. Television Group, a prolific studio that has produced acclaimed shows from "The West Wing" to "Ted Lasso."
“The television studio [Warner Bros.] … produces and licenses content to third parties," Sarandos told those in attendance (h/t Deadline). "We were never in that business. We are now,” he said. “When we get under the hood, that’s a really healthy business. It’s not as big as ours, and that’s why we haven’t really focused that much on doing it. The growth opportunity on our core business has been greater. But now in this transaction, we own that business, and Channing and that group do a phenomenal job, and we want them to continue to do that phenomenal job.”
So, if we take Sarandos' comments at face value, a plan starts to emerge. In this new era of Netflix Bros., Netflix will handle the general entertainment IP-driven shows from the Warner Bros. catalog, like "Harry Potter" (again, that specific example will likely stay at HBO). And Warner Bros. Television will continue to produce a wide variety of shows for Netflix and its competitors, including Apple TV, Disney, Paramount and Comcast.
Finally, HBO will return to being the home of the prestige TV content that made it famous. Think less "Dune: Prophecy" and more "Task." That might not be such a bad idea after all.
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