As Netflix’s acquisition negotiations for Warner Discovery intensify, the streamer’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos is scheduled to visit the White House for talks on Thursday.
Sarandos is sure to discuss President Trump’s recent call to fire Netflix board member Susan Rice. However, according to Politico, it is unclear whether Sarandos will actually meet with President Trump at the White House.
On Saturday, President Trump posted on Truth Social that Netflix should “immediately” fire Rice, a former U.N. ambassador and board member, or “pay the consequences.” “This is a business deal. It’s not a political deal,” Sarandos said in an interview.
Paramount Skydance recently increased its offer to $31 per share while Netflix is working toward a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business for $83 billion.
WBD’s board will “further engage” with Paramount to determine whether it can reach a “superior offer” (a term defined within the language of the existing Netflix agreement). If the WBD board determines that Paramount Skydance’s proposal is superior, Netflix will have four business days to propose amendments to the contract.
Meanwhile, Paramount CEO David Ellison attended Tuesday’s State of the Union address as a guest of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
The Justice Department’s antitrust division is currently evaluating Netflix’s market power and dealmaking, and Sarandos recently told Variety that he is working hard to counter the perception that Netflix has a dominant market share.
“Most of the work we’ve done so far is ringing the bell for misinformation campaigns. What is our market share? I mean, our market share is very clear. Nielsen publishes market share all the time, which they call The Gauge, and it’s a question of whether we’re in business And if you combine HBO and us, we’re at 10% of the business. And it’s certainly far from a monopoly, and what people have been talking about for the past few days is that 50 to 70 percent market share is insane,” Sarandos said Friday.
Netflix has not commented.
