Technologies
Netflix Is Buying Warner Bros. in an $83B Deal. Here’s What It Means for You
The acquisition will see massive franchises including Harry Potter and Friends brought into the same portfolio as Stranger Things and Squid Game.
Netflix took its next step towards becoming one of the most dominant forces in the global entertainment industry on Friday by announcing its acquisition of Warner Bros, HBO and its streaming business HBO Max. The $82.7 billion deal will see the entertainment giant acquire the studio and streaming arm of Warner Bros. Discovery, following the latter company’s earlier announcement this year that it’s splitting in two. WBD is expected to spin off its Discovery business in the third quarter of 2026.
By acquiring Warner Bros., HBO and HBO Max, Netflix not only will boost its own catalog of shows and films — which already includes big hitters such as Stranger Things, Wednesday and Squid Game, with Warner Bros. properties Harry Potter, Friends and Batman — but will also see it play host to HBO shows including Game of Thrones and Succession.Â
“Our mission has always been to entertain the world,” said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in a statement. He promised the deal would bring audiences “more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling.”Â
Greg Peters, co-CEO of Netflix, praised WBD’s longevity and executive team, adding, “With our global reach and proven business model, we can introduce a broader audience to the worlds they create — giving our members more options, attracting more fans to our best-in-class streaming service, strengthening the entire entertainment industry and creating more value for shareholders.”
The big question for most Netflix subscribers will likely be how the acquisition might affect monthly subscription costs. Netflix is our top pick of the many streaming services you have available to you, but one of the few downsides we note in our review is that the premium plans are already on the pricey end of the spectrum.
It’s too early to say what the knock-on impact on pricing might look like, but streaming services are getting increasingly expensive, and this acquisition is unlikely to reverse that trend. While it’s unclear whether Netflix plans to merge both streaming apps into a single offering, the company said that the agreement will enable it to “optimize its plans for consumers, enhancing viewing options and expanding access to content.”Â
The deal, which values Warner Bros. Discovery at around $72B after debt, was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. It’s expected to allow Netflix to grow its production capacity for original titles and invest in more original content. Netflix said that it expects to maintain Warner Bros.’ current operations, and still expects theatrical releases for films (like The Batman Part II) to be business as usual.Â
What’s next if the transaction clears any regulatory hurdles? “If this deal makes it through regulatory approval, Netflix will cement itself as the Goliath of streaming services now with the combined weight of HBO Max and the content studios behind it all,” said Forrester VP, research director, Mike Proulx. “This deal changes the calculus of the streaming wars, representing a seismic shift in the entertainment industry.”
Technologies
Trump strikes deal with Putin to supply Russian diesel to U.S. and global markets
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Technologies
Major League Baseball proposes shortening its regular season as it pushes for a salary cap
Major League Baseball proposed a return to a shorter 154-game regular season schedule as it attempts to convince players to approve a salary cap.
Major League Baseball proposed shortening its regular season to 154 games from 162 as it attempts to convince players to approve a salary cap in the league’s next collective bargaining agreement. The new shortened schedule would begin in 2029.
MLB’s CBA expires Dec. 1, after the conclusion of this season’s World Series. The most contentious issue is the introduction of a salary cap on players. MLB is the only major American sports league without a cap. The league has failed to convince the players’ union to adopt one in several previous CBA negotiations.
A 154-game season was used between 1904 and 1960, except for 1918 and 1919 when the schedule was abbreviated because of World War I. For the past 66 years, 162 regular season games has been the standard, though some seasons have been shortened.
Lopping off eight games “is good for player health, while also creating a new national broadcast window to showcase our most exciting teams and players,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement. “A shorter regular season unlocks making October even better for our fans — with fewer weekday afternoon games, a longer Division Series, and more opportunities to see the game’s best pitchers on the biggest stage.”
As part of the proposal, MLB wants to cement Monday as an exclusive broadcast window for one or two games to “increase national exposure for the sport.” The league could conceivably sell a package of Monday-only games to a streaming service looking to increase subscriber and advertising revenue. Every team not playing in the national game or games would have an off day.
Teams that play Monday would be off on Thursday, MLB said.
In addition to lowering the number of regular season games, MLB would extend the divisional round of the playoffs to seven games from five and would allow the higher-seeded teams in both the wild card round and in the divisional round to choose their lower-seeded opponent.
The Major League Baseball Players Association responded to the MLB’s proposed changes by claiming the league “once again made clear that all of its proposals are contingent on players’ agreement to a salary cap, a system that guts player rights and compensation, as well as its other anti-player proposals.”
An MLB spokesperson confirmed that Thursday’s proposed changes are contingent on adopting a cap – and a salary floor, which would force teams to spend a certain amount on players. Still, the MLBPA said it would review the proposed changes. “Players will weigh in on these proposals and we will respond at the bargaining table,” MLBPA said in a statement.
Technologies
Hurricane Isaias disrupts U.S. oil production in Gulf of Mexico, threatens refineries
The hurricane could tighten a fuel market that is already facing big disruptions from the wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Hurricane Isaias is disrupting U.S. crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and could limit about 2% of the country’s refining capacity, at a time when fuel markets are already tight around the world.
Isaias is churning toward Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center, and is expected to make landfall Friday night or early Saturday.
As of Thursday, oil companies had shut in about 1.3 million barrels per day, or roughly 63% of total U.S. production in the Gulf, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
The hurricane appeared to be veering away from the dense refining region in southern Louisiana near New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
But the storm could affect Chevron
“Of course, losing any refinery capacity when diesel supplies are at their lowest level for this time of year since the EIA began reporting in 1982 is not a good thing,” Lipow wrote in a Friday note, referring to the Energy Information Administration.
Chevron’s refinery at Pascagoula remains operational, spokesperson Ross Allen said Thursday. Vertex officials weren’t immediately available for comment about its Saraland refinery.
″The biggest risk to these two refineries are a loss of electricity or flooding damage,” Lipow wrote in a note Friday. If the refineries do shut down, it would take one to two weeks to restart them if they did not sustain damage, he said.
Refineries on the Gulf Coast are running at 95% of their capacity, so there is no slack in the system to make up for lost production, Lipow said.
Diesel prices have soared as the wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East knock out refining capacity. Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries forced Moscow to ban diesel exports. Iran and its Houthi allies have also attacked refineries in the Middle East.
U.S. refiners have stepped in to take advantage of wide profit margins to export diesel around the world, particularly to Europe.
In the past, fuel prices rose while crude prices fell during outages at Gulf refineries, said Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners. That’s a result of those refineries not demanding crude and not producing fuel for consumers, Book told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday.
Lipow warned that tanker traffic will also be disrupted.
“Tankers will be delayed delivering crude oil to the refineries while other tankers are delayed loading gasoline, jet fuel and diesel out of the refineries,” the analyst said. “Florida will experience delays in receiving gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.”
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