MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
When you think about HBO, what first comes to mind?
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KELLY: Or maybe it's the dysfunctional mob family in "The Sopranos" and the beloved hero/antihero Tony.
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JAMES GANDOLFINI: (As Tony Soprano) I'm trying to do the right thing by you. You try and have me whacked?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) She doesn't understand you.
GANDOLFINI: (As Tony Soprano) She's smiling. Look at the look on her face.
KELLY: Yeah, or maybe you think HBO, and you think Carrie and Charlotte and Miranda and Samantha, the foursome from HBO's groundbreaking "Sex And The City."
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) You're smoking at a funeral?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Javier would have wanted it that way.
KELLY: OK. Now, what about Netflix? What do you think when you think Netflix?
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KELLY: Maybe the ragtag group of kids over at "Stranger Things."
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) Have you had any contact with Eddie?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character) That psycho freak killer? God, no.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #6: (As character) We haven't heard from him in ages.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #7: (As character) Absolutely not.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #8: (As character) We barely know the guy.
KELLY: Or maybe it's the aristocratic families of "Bridgerton."
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #9: (As character) They are courting.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #10: (As character) They've danced a couple of times together at a ball. It does not signify...
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #9: (As character) They promenaded this morning, and he sent flowers today, expensive ones.
KELLY: So many good characters. And the news is that this motley crew may be merging into one big family. That's because Netflix says it plans to buy Warner Bros., including HBO and HBO Max, which is precisely the moment that I want to hear what's on the mind of NPR critic-at-large Eric Deggans. Hey, Eric.
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: You know, you're putting a lot of responsibility on my back on this one.
KELLY: (Laughter) Well, let's see if you can carry it. My question - what does this mean for me? And by me, I mean, you know, all consumers, everybody who subscribes to Netflix, and we love HBO, and we love going to the movies. How's it going to affect us?
DEGGANS: Well, we really don't know how this is going to affect consumers. I mean, this deal isn't even going to close for 12 to 18 months, and there's lots of questions to be answered before then. Of course, Netflix officials say this is going to be more choice and greater value for consumers. But Netflix and HBO Max, together they've got more than 420 million subscriptions. That is a huge portion of the market. And remember, we've seen streaming services offer low prices at first, only to raise them later.
This is the first time that Netflix has attempted a deal this big. So are they going to force parts of Warner Bros. Discovery to serve the streaming service, or are they going to let them do what they do like a rival company like Disney does when it acquires stuff?
KELLY: And then what about movies, specifically? Like, how is this landing in Hollywood?
DEGGANS: Well, everybody from filmmaker James Cameron to organizations that represent producers, directors, theater owners, they've all expressed concern. The Writers Guild of America just came out with a statement saying, this merger must be blocked. And many of these groups cite antitrust concerns and Netflix's past resistance to giving many of its own films long runs in theaters. I mean, they typically only play long enough to qualify for Hollywood awards. And critics say that Netflix's goal as a company is to funnel that material to its streaming service.
But in a conference call this morning with investors, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said they would honor Warner Bros. Studios' commitments to its movies to play in theaters, although he made it clear he's not a big fan of these long, exclusive theatrical runs. Now, I actually think they're going to move cautiously here 'cause they also need to have good relations with the creative talent in Hollywood, and they do not want the town to turn on them.
KELLY: Yeah, that makes sense. Go back to streaming platforms. Do we know what the impact on streaming will be?
DEGGANS: Well, I think this all connects back to the original question I asked, which is, like, how is Netflix going to approach this deal? I mean, Netflix said today that they're maintaining Warner's operations, but can they really justify having two different large streaming services under the same ownership? I mean, it also raises this question of what's going to happen to the assets that Netflix doesn't buy. I mean, cable-centered platforms like Discovery, TNT Sports and CNN are going to get spun off into a separate company called Discovery Global by the end of next year, just when viewers are turning away from cable contracts in droves. Now, can that company survive on its own, or are consumer is going to have to worry about who's going to own CNN's giant news operation about a year from now?
KELLY: And the timing, Eric. This is all far from over. The federal government needs to weigh in and approve this deal before it actually becomes reality.
DEGGANS: That's true. Now, President Trump said in the fall that Paramount's CEO David Ellison and his father, Larry, were friends and big supporters. This was the rival company that tried to buy Warner Bros. Discovery as well. Many people expected that the administration would support Paramount here. And Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has also criticized this deal with Netflix as a, quote, "antimonopoly nightmare." But President Trump also has a history of being very transactional. So the last question might be, what does Netflix have to do to get this deal approved?
KELLY: We will watch and wait and see. NPR's Eric Deggans, thank you.
DEGGANS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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