Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman of the FCC, offered his opinion that Netflix‘s proposed $83 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros.’s studios and HBO Max businesses raises “competition concerns.”
However, the FCC does not have any authority to review the Netflix-WB deal. The proposed sale does not involve the transfer of broadcast licenses, which the FCC regulates; Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t own any broadcast TV properties. Meanwhile, Netflix isn’t buying WBD’s cable television assets (which are to be spun off into a new company, Discovery Global) but even if it were the FCC does not have jurisdiction in that domain.
Carr made the comments in an interview with Bloomberg published Friday. “What you’ve seen Netflix do as a general matter, in terms of their organic growth, is fantastic,” the FCC chair said. “There are legitimate competition concerns that I’ve seen raised about their acquisition here and just the sheer amount of scale and consolidation you can see in the streaming market.”
The Justice Department and the FTC are the U.S. government agencies that are reviewing the Netflix-WB agreement for potential antitrust issues.
Paramount Skydance, led by chairman and CEO David Ellison, has launched a hostile takeover campaign, hoping to convince Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders its $30/share bid is the better deal. Carr said in the Bloomberg interview that he doesn’t see competition concerns if Paramount Skydance were to land a deal for WBD, but he said the FCC could review that because Paramount’s bid includes funding from foreign entities. In addition to David Ellison’s father, Oracle co-founder and multibillionaire Larry Ellison (who has personally committed $40.4 billion toward the prospective deal), Paramount’s proposal is backed by the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
This week, Netflix switched to an all-cash deal for the WB assets, aimed at countering Paramount’s claim to have the superior deal because it was offering all-cash vs. Netflix’s previous cash-and-stock terms. Netflix and WBD said they have each submitted Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) antitrust filings and “are engaging with competition authorities,” including the U.S. Justice Department and the European Commission. “Netflix and WBD remain committed to working closely with regulators and all stakeholders to ensure a smooth and successful transaction,” the companies said.
As part of promoting its rival bid, Paramount has claimed the Netflix-WB deal is subject to “severe regulatory risk because it would further entrench market concentration, in contrast to a combination with Paramount that enhances competition and strengthens the long-term prospects of the entertainment industry.” Netflix and HBO Max together would hold an estimated 43% share of global streaming subscribers, according to Paramount, “leading to higher prices for consumers, reduced compensation for content creators and talent, and significant harm to American and international theatrical exhibitors.”
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Politicians on both sides of the aisle are wary of the power Netflix would amass with an acquisition of Warner Bros. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) called the proposed deal “an anti-monopoly nightmare.” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and WBD chief strategy office Bruce Campbell are due to testify before a Senate antitrust hearing next month. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, has said there are “a lot of antitrust red flags here” and predicted in a tweet last month: “Buckle up for an intense antitrust hearing in the Senate.”
With respect to antitrust questions, Netflix has framed its core competitive set as overall TV viewing (inclusive of YouTube watched on big-screen TVs) — and, more broadly, that it vies for consumers’ attention against the likes of Instagram. “We relish competition and work to earn more of consumers’ attention. Despite our success over the years, our share of TV time remains below 10% in the major markets in which we operate,” Netflix said in its Q4 2025 letter to shareholders.
Carr, after being named FCC chairman by Trump, has actively promoted the White House’s agenda: He has claimed that the agency is not “independent” of the Trump administration.
In September, Carr threatened ABC and its affiliates with the prospect of FCC investigations into “news distortion” complaints unless they dropped “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, coming after Kimmel’s on-air comments about MAGA trying to exploit the Charlie Kirk assassination to score political points. (Carr called the Kimmel remarks “some of the sickest conduct possible.”) After two major station groups — Sinclair and Nexstar — said they were preempting Kimmel’s show, ABC suspended the late-night host for nearly a week before bringing Kimmel back on the air.
This week, the FCC’s Media Bureau issued a warning that late-night and daytime TV shows like “The View” or “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that air political interviews may may not be considered “bona fide” news programs — and could therefore be subject to the agency’s “equal time” rule to grant comparable airtime to opposing candidates.
“For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night & daytime talk shows qualify as ‘bona fide news’ programs — even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes,” Carr tweeted on Jan. 21. “Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities.”
From Variety US