Netflix cedes Warner Bros. Discovery to Paramount: “No longer financially attractive”

February 28, 2026

Here’s something that caught my eye — Netflix just bailed on its plan to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios. Instead, Paramount is now taking the lead, thanks to a much bigger bid that includes Game of Thrones, DC stuff, and even HBO Max. According to Scharon Harding writing in Ars Technica, Netflix originally offered around $72 billion for part of WBD, but that deal’s now off. Meanwhile, Paramount has been eyeing WBD for years and ramped up its offer, adding a $7 billion penalty if the merger doesn’t go through because of antitrust rules. So what does this actually mean for you? Well, it’s a clear sign that streaming giants are competing fiercely, and big media assets are still highly valuable — just not always to Netflix. As Harding points out, the landscape’s shifting fast, and we’re likely to see more of these high-stakes battles. Keep an eye on what happens next — things are just heating up.

Netflix backed out of its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD’s) streaming and movie studios businesses on Thursday night. After increasing its bid for all of WBD by $1 per share on Tuesday, Paramount Skydance is poised to become the new owner of WBD, including Game of Thrones, DC Comics, and other IP, as well as the HBO Max streaming service and cable channels CNN and TBS.

Netflix and WBD announced merger intentions on December 5. Netflix was going to pay an equity value of $72 billion, or an approximate total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, for part of WBD. At the time, NBC News reported that WBD’s total market value was $60 billion.

But Paramount has reportedly been eyeing WBD for years and followed December's merger announcement with an aggressive hostile takeover bid. On Tuesday, in addition to raising its offer to buy all of WBD, Paramount also agreed to pay a $7 billion regulatory termination fee should a Paramount-WBD merger fail to close due to antitrust regulation, as well as a $0.25 per share ticking fee for every quarter that the deal doesn’t close, starting on September 30.

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