Will Netflix Bid for WBD? Co-CEO Greg Peters says: ‘Major media mergers don’t have a great track record’

Will Netflix pursue a massive media merger and acquisition? Don’t bet on it.

Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters downplayed the company’s desire to grow through a major acquisition. Peters was asked Wednesday night at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in LA by moderator Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief for media and entertainment, whether there was any truth to the rumors that Netflix was interested in making a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

“I would say this: We come from a deep heritage of builders rather than buyers,” Peters responded. He continued: “You have to be fairly skeptical about major media mergers; they don’t have an amazing track record over time.”

Peters said, “Our job is to figure out, ‘What’s the best way to grow our business?'” If a major acquisition “is the best way to grow our business, great. If not, we have to do something else.”

Chatter circulated about Netflix’s alleged interest in WBD after news broke that David Ellison, just weeks after closing the $8 billion deal to form Paramount Skydance, announced a possible bid to buy Warner Bros. Taking over Discovery in its entirety circumvents.

After Shaw asked Peters whether Netflix is ​​now competing with “the second richest person in the world” — a reference to Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who largely financed the Skydance Media deal to acquire Paramount Global — Peters said, “It’s nice to have some new energy in the competitive ecosystem. It’s exciting, it keeps everyone on their toes.” But, he said, “it doesn’t change the business fundamentals.” Asked whether Paramount bid Skydance “irrationally” in closing a $7.7 billion deal for UFC rights over seven years, Peters noted that Netflix continually competes in bids for content rights. If Netflix is ​​outbid, Peters said his feeling is, “Go with God and try to make some damn money off of that.”

About YouTube, Peters said: “Of course they are a competitor.” But he said YouTube is an “orthogonal” rival, in that its primarily user-generated content model is fundamentally different from Netflix’s. “Orthogonal competition is the hardest to track,” he said. Peters said Netflix wants to invest in creator projects, whether they come from YouTube, TikTok or elsewhere, and help “find the largest global audience for them.”

Peters also announced that Netflix is ​​expanding the games available on TVs with a new series of ‘party games’, which you play using your smartphone as a controller. These titles, which will be available this holiday season, include “Boggle Party,” “Pictionary: Game Night,” “Tetris Time Warp,” “Lego Party” and “Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends.” Overall, Peters gave Netflix’s games initiative, which it launched in late 2021, a “B-” grade. He recalled that when Netflix first launched in Japan, only 2% of consumers in the country had even heard of the company. Netflix’s current situation with games and interactive programming, he said, “is no different from that.”

Peters was asked whether Netflix would have made more money if it had released the animated hit “KPop Demon Hunters,” its most-watched film to date, in theaters. “Ultimately I don’t think so,” Peters said. “It has worked incredibly well for us.” Any positive advantage over “KPop Demon Hunters,” he suggested, would not be a reason to deviate from Netflix’s strategy of primarily streaming-first releases. When asked if Netflix has plans to syndicate programs to third parties, Peters said, “I doubt it…I’m not sure why we would do that.”

Meanwhile, billionaire Elon Musk last week launched a concerted “cancel Netflix” campaign on his social platform

Peters did not directly address Musk’s anti-Netflix initiative. But he spoke about the fact that there are certain shows on the service that “people don’t like” — which he said stems from the fact that Netflix creates content for an audience approaching 1 billion people worldwide. ‘If we do it right, there will be something on the service [some people] thinking it’s not great, that they don’t like it or think it might be harmful. That is the business we are in,” says Peters.

Through the first two quarters of the year, Netflix exceeded Wall Street expectations on revenue and profit. Starting in the first quarter of 2025, the company will no longer regularly report subscriber counts as the company plans to focus on financials and user engagement. When reporting second-quarter results, Netflix raised its full-year 2025 revenue guidance to a range of $44.8 billion to $45.2 billion (previously $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion), which would represent 15%-16% year-over-year growth, mainly due to the recent depreciation of the U.S. dollar. The company is expected to announce third-quarter results after market close on October 21.

Peters was named co-CEO of Netflix, alongside Ted Sarandos, in January 2023 after Reed Hastings left his position. Peters previously served as Chief Product Officer and Chief Operating Officer.