Netflix says it’s ‘going to keep’ HBO team after acquiring Warner Bros

Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters has assured that the company plans to preserve HBO’s team, even after the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, promising to give them a “bigger audience.”

Last week, the streaming giant offered an amended all-cash bid to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studio assets, replacing the previous stock-and-cash deal the two companies had reached last month.

As questions and concerns continue to swirl about what a merger could mean for the future of HBO Max and the talent behind its success, Peters has said he’s confident the content will remain just as strong because “we’re going to keep that HBO team.”

“That HBO team is good at working with that talent and giving them the environment that they need to tell those amazing stories,” he told Stratechery. “And they get to do it under a great brand that speaks to the kind of program they’re trying to make, and we’re going to give them a bigger audience.”

HBO has been the mastermind behind numerous smash hit Emmy-winning originals, such as Game of Thrones, Succession and The White Lotus. It recently released the soapy gay sports romance drama Heated Rivalry, which has since become one of its top-rated series.

When asked about whether Netflix plans to keep HBO Max as a separate service or combine the two, Peters stayed coy.

“This is the kind of thing we would want to sort out and we’ve got some thinking originally,” he noted.

“We want to do some more work on that one. But there’s clearly, I would say, we know from our work in doing this with other providers that there are benefits. We can make a win-win, we can make a better product for consumers, lower price ultimately, and it works better for the business, we know that that’s capable.”

Netflix and Warner Bros. have been in talks to merge since November, when the former announced it had proposed an acquisition. The following month, WBD agreed to sell its studio and streaming operations to Netflix in a lucrative $82.7 billion deal.

The stunning agreement came after Paramount Skydance had initially offered to acquire the entire company, which includes prominent networks such as CNN and Discovery, beyond just the studio and streaming divisions.

Within days of WBD’s agreement with Netflix, Paramount Skydance went public with its hostile takeover bid of $77 billion. Even as it later enhanced its offer to all-cash $30 per share, WBD continued to urge its shareholders to remain steadfast in accepting Netflix’s competing offer.

Paramount Skydance, controlled by David Ellison, has since filed a lawsuit against WBD requesting that it provide information about its sale process and pending multi-billion-dollar deal with rival Netflix.