Netflix Inc to Acquire Warner Bros Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Benjamin Swinburne - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : I'm sure there's a lot of hard work to get to this point. You guys are spending quite a bit of money to acquire this asset, obviously, a much larger acquisition that you've ever done before, $70 billion plus. So you must think you can create value for your shareholders. You talked about that a bit in the prepared remarks and make these businesses worth substantially more than what you're paying. So could you talk about how that happens at a high level? Because the release kind of talks about both leveraging this IP on Netflix, but also continuing to run the businesses kind of as is. And to some degree, there's no free lunch, right? It's sort of one or the other, at least on a specific show or film basis. So I'd love to hear more about how you think this ultimately creates value for your shareholders? And specifically, how you think about running these two businesses, the Studio and HBO in the long term alongside, obviously, the core Netflix business.

Question: Rich Greenfield - LightShed Partners - Analyst : I think the most obvious is why now. You could have bought Warner Bros when the stock was at six, nobody wanted it. Skydance was tied up buying Paramount like you had a unique window of time. Is there a reason now in terms of like looking at the need to accelerate engagement? Or I guess, just what was it about this timing that it became so important to go after this asset now. And then I think I just have to ask, Greg, you came to the Bloomberg conference and you made a very specific quote that there is a long, long history of media transactions that do not end well. I guess for everyone listening, why is this going to end differently than every other media transaction essentially of this scale in history?

Question: Steven Cahall - Wells Fargo Securities LLC - Analyst : So first, just wanted a little more clarity on how you're envisioning HBO. Spence, I think you talked about the subscriber engagement benefits to the transaction. And Ted, I think you said that HBO would remain in some sort of shape or form. So should we think about HBO as being an entirely separate service for the long term? Or could it be a hub sort of inside of Netflix where the brand remains so significant as it is today, but there is kind of a bigger synergy inside Netflix to members. And then just on the content side of things, I mean, I kind of think about this as an acceleration of future content spend into this $83 billion enterprise value for studio and library. I don't know if that's exactly how you think about it. But how do you think about content spend for the combined company on a proforma basis? And what kind of savings would you expect from Netflix' content spend given this big library in studio you're acquiring?

Question: Steven Cahall - Wells Fargo Securities LLC - Analyst : Yes.

Question: Robert Fishman - Moffatt Nathanson - Analyst : Ted, you've been focused on keeping the value of Netflix content exclusive to your platform, mostly avoiding theatrical releases. So can you just discuss why do you plan to change that strategy now with the Warner Bros theatrical releases? Or would you be open to evolving Netflix's release to a day and date type of tentpole strategy in the future? LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 05, 2025 / 1:00PM, NFLX.OQ - Netflix Inc to Acquire Warner Bros And then maybe just on a related note, when we think about all the third-party licensing that Warner Bros Studio does today, how is that going to evolve over time, both in the US and internationally?

Question: John Hodulik - UBS AG - Analyst : Congrats on the deal. Just can you guys talk a little bit about your thoughts on -- are your expectations from an engagement standpoint. It would seem that just adding the engagement you're seeing on Netflix and HBO would understate the benefits you would get just given the sort of Netflix effect we've seen on previous content. LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 05, 2025 / 1:00PM, NFLX.OQ - Netflix Inc to Acquire Warner Bros And then aside from that, just what this transaction could do to your ad business? It would seem in the sort of crawl, walk, run, this would sort of accelerate you guys to the run phase much quicker. And then lastly, any change in terms of the importance of sports content just given the broader platform, the broader reach you guys have, just the importance you think in terms of adding live content and sports to both platforms going forward?

Question: Jessica Reif Ehrlich - Bank of America - Analyst : I guess, one, it doesn't sound like you're changing at least initially any of Warner Bros operations. So if there's something -- if you're thinking about it differently, I'd just be curious to hear your thoughts on that. And how do you plan -- Warner Bros has the most successful and the deepest film and TV library. And you talked about creative universes. Can you just share your thoughts on how you plan to exploit it differently or more deeply than it's been done. And the cost savings, where will they be coming from?

Question: Michael Morris - Guggenheim Securities LLC - Analyst : I wanted to ask a couple of questions about the process. There has been some press that this combination could face a pretty challenging regulatory review process. And so my question there is, what gives you the confidence that you will be able to pass through that process. That's my first. And my second is, there's also a coverage that it's been a pretty competitive bidding process with respect to some other bidders. Do you expect there to be a continuation where another bid could come in? And you have to raise the offer? Or should we assume that this is sort of the final structure of what this will look like. LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 05, 2025 / 1:00PM, NFLX.OQ - Netflix Inc to Acquire Warner Bros

Question: John Blackledge - TD Cowen - Analyst : Great. Maybe, Ted, if you could just add on US production of film and episodic shows, what that kind of looks like post the deal? And how does the creative community around the world benefit from the deal?