A prominent Republican U.S. representative has weighed in on the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery — warning Trump administration officials that Netflix‘s potential acquisition of WBD’s HBO Max and its entertainment studios “raises antitrust concerns that could result in a harm to consumers.”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) sent the letter, dated Nov. 13, to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson and Gail Slater, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s antitrust division. Variety has reviewed a copy of the letter.
Last month, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it had received in-bound acquisition interest from “multiple parties” and has commenced a process to review such offers. David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is known to have submitted bids for WBD in its entirety, while Netflix and Comcast have been putting together bids for the company’s streaming and studio operations. Warner Bros. Discovery has set a Nov. 20 deadline for “nonbinding first-round bids” and the media company is aiming to have the process wrapped up by year-end, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Issa’s letter says, “I am writing regarding recent and continuing reports that Netflix is seeking to acquire Warner Brothers (Bros.) Discovery’s studio and streaming properties. As you are aware, Netflix is already the dominant streaming platform in the United States and permitting it to absorb a major competitor raises antitrust concerns that could result in a harm to consumers.”
The letter continues, “With more than 300 million global subscribers and a vast content library, Netflix currently wields unequaled market power. Adding both HBO Max’s subscribers and Warner Bros.’ premier content rights would further enhance this position, reportedly pushing the combined entity above a 30 percent share of the streaming market: a threshold traditionally viewed as presumptively problematic under antitrust law.”
Netflix stopped sharing subscriber figures at the beginning of 2025, as its sub growth has begun to slow down and the company wants investors to focus more on financial and user-engagement metrics. In its most recent announcements, the company describes itself as “one of the world’s leading entertainment services with over 300 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages.”
WBD ended the third quarter of 2025 with 128.0 million streaming subscribers, an increase of 2.3 million subscribers from Q2. Those include customers of HBO Max as well as Discovery+ and its sports-streaming services.
Issa, in the letter to the Trump administration officials, also writes, “Of further concern is that this consolidation would also diminish incentives to produce new content and major theatrical releases — evidenced by Netflix’s own statements dismissing movie theatres as ‘outdated’ — which could undermine opportunities for the full range of industry professionals both in front of and behind the camera.”
Issa was referencing a remark by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos at an industry conference earlier this year, in which the exec called theaters “an outdated concept.”
At the Time100 Summit in April, Sarandos said, “Folks grew up thinking, ‘I want to make movies on a gigantic screen and have strangers watch them [and to have them] play in the theater for two months and people cry and sold-out shows … It’s an outdated concept.” He also called the communal moviegoing experience “an outmoded idea,” noting, “If you’re fortunate to live enough in Manhattan, and you can walk to a multiplex and see a movie, that’s fantastic. Most of the country cannot.”
Issa’s Nov. 13 letter concludes, “I appreciate the Administration’s determined efforts to promote competitive markets and establish a record of regulatory common sense. I urge you continue to protect a critical American industry, enhance consumer choice, and safeguard vital American jobs.”
Variety has reached out to Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery for comment.
