FCC Boss Voices Concern Over Netflix, WBD Merger Despite Having No Legal Authority Over the Deal
January 24, 2026
Netflix’s $82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery does not involve the media giant’s television network assets, which fall under the purview of the Federal Communications Commission.
But that didn’t stop FCC chairman Brendan Carr from voicing his concerns on the transaction involving Netflix acquiring the HBO Max streaming service and Warner Bros. movie studio.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Carr said he sees “legitimate competition concerns” should Netflix consummate the deal. Carr apparently does not share the same concerns if Paramount Skydance acquires WBD, including its Global Networks division.
Carr, an appointee of President Donald Trump, played a key role in Skydance Media acquiring Paramount Global, a transaction that included Paramount-owned CBS News paying Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit against “60 Minutes.”
“What you’ve seen Netflix do as a general matter, in terms of their organic growth, is fantastic,” Carr said. “There are legitimate competition concerns that I’ve seen raised about their acquisition here and just the sheer amount of scale and consolidation you can see in the streaming market.”
A combined Netflix and HBO Max would include 450 million paid subscribers. Max and Paramount+ would tally about 200 million combined paid subs.
Similar questions could be raised now that tech billionaire Larry Ellison has spearheaded the acquisition of U.S. rights to the social media video behemoth TikTok, which claims 200 million users in the United States, including 8.5 million businesses. Ellison is largely bankrolling the $108.4 billion hostile WBD takeover bid on behalf of his son, Paramount CEO David Ellion.
Without the senior Ellison’s deep pockets, Paramount would not have the fiscal means to acquire WBD. The company would reportedly take on $55 billion in debt in the deal — on top of its current $15 billion in debt load.
As a result, Paramount’s bid includes tens of billions in funding from three Middle Eastern country sovereign wealth funds.
Netflix, which also has about $15 billion in debt, would add another $10.7 billion in net debt from the acquired Warner Bros. studios and streaming assets — tallies it would seem to be able to comfortably afford on paper.
The streamer ended 2025 with $11 billion in profit on revenue of $45.2 billion.
Both companies’ bid are now under second review by the Justice Department, which does have jurisdiction over the transaction.
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