Reviewed by Gotrade Internal Analyst
Jakarta, Gotrade News - The plan to merge two media titans, Netflix Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., is facing a pretty serious new challenge. This massive deal has caught the direct attention of U.S. President Donald Trump, who voiced concerns about its impact on healthy business competition.
For those of you keeping up with the entertainment industry and the stock market, this dynamic is crucial to watch because it could totally reshape the global streaming competition map.
Warning Signals from President Trump
In a recent statement, President Donald Trump highlighted potential issues that might pop up from Netflix's plan to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. The equity value of this deal is reported to reach US$72 billion or around Rp1,100 trillion. That massive figure is definitely triggering strict scrutiny from regulators. Trump specifically mentioned that the market share—or the percentage of total sales in the industry—owned by the combined entity could be a major problem.
In an interview cited by Bloomberg, Trump said this deal has to go through the proper process. He added that combining these two companies would create a huge market share, and that could be an issue. Trump also confirmed he met with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos at the White House recently.
Even though Trump praised Netflix as a good streaming company during that meeting, his stance on this merger remains cautious. The President's direct involvement in this decision-making process shows just how significant this deal's impact is on the economy and media industry in the U.S.
Market Dominance and Antitrust Regulation Risks
The core of this worry lies in potential antitrust violations. "Antitrust" refers to a set of laws and regulations designed to promote healthy business competition and prevent monopolies or absolute market control by one party. This deal plans to combine Netflix, the world's number one streaming player, with HBO Max, which currently sits at number four.
Based on data from Bloomberg, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division will likely review this transaction very strictly. Regulators could argue that this deal is illegal if the combined market share of the two companies exceeds the 30% threshold. This number is often the benchmark for regulators to decide if a merger will kill off competition or not.
If that limit is breached, there's a fear that consumers (that's us!) will lose out due to fewer service options and the potential for uncontrolled subscription price hikes. This is why the "yellow light" from Trump and the potential DOJ review are major roadblocks that Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery have to face before this deal can be sealed.
Netflix's Argument in Defining Competition
On the flip side, Netflix seems to have prepared a defense strategy to smooth out this acquisition. The company is predicted to argue that the current streaming market isn't just filled by traditional subscription services like them and HBO. Netflix is expected to ask regulators to broaden the definition of the market to include other giant social video platforms.
Bloomberg reports that Netflix will point to services like YouTube owned by Alphabet Inc. and TikTok owned by ByteDance Ltd. as their direct competitors. If these short-video and ad-based platforms are included in the market analysis, then the percentage of market dominance held by Netflix and Warner Bros. would look statistically much smaller.
In his meeting with Trump, Ted Sarandos also emphasized that Netflix isn't an all-powerful monopoly. According to sources familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg, Sarandos stressed that Netflix even experienced a drop in subscribers a few years ago. This argument is used to convince regulators that the industry is super dynamic and competitive, so this merger won't kill the vibe of competition.
Referensi:
- Bloomberg, Trump Warns Netflix-Warner Deal May Pose Antitrust ‘Problem’. Accessed on December 8, 2025
- Featured Image: Shutterstock
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