By Juby Babu, Jaspreet Singh and Kritika Lamba
Dec 5 (Reuters) – Warner Bros Discovery has agreed to sell its iconic studio and streaming assets to Netflix for $72 billion, in a move that will reshape Hollywood by creating a vertically integrated media powerhouse.
The deal caps a weeks-long bidding war with Paramount Skydance and Comcast.
The media and entertainment industry is currently experiencing profound shifts, marked by intensified competition and a transition to streaming amid a declining traditional linear television business.
Here is a snapshot of how major media companies are performing in a tough industry:
WARNER BROS DISCOVERY
The media giant, which owns streaming service HBO Max, has a vast library of feature films, including franchises such as “Wonder Woman,” “Harry Potter” and “Batman.” Its studios include Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, DC Studios and Warner Bros Television Group.
The company’s total revenue for fiscal 2024 fell about 5% to $39.32 billion. The studios’ revenue declined 5% to $11.61 billion.
Warner Bros Pictures Animation began its journey with the iconic “Looney Tunes” in 1930 and has produced classics such as “The Iron Giant,” “The Lego Movie” franchise and “Happy Feet.”
The company’s direct-to-consumer unit, now named Streaming, includes the HBO Max and discovery+ streaming platforms and added 2.3 million net subscribers in the third quarter, reaching 128 million global subscribers, up 16% year over year.
NETFLIX
The streaming company’s revenue rose about 16% to $39 billion last year. It had 301.6 million total subscribers in 2024.
It primarily derives revenue from subscriptions and has also rolled out ad-supported plans. Major movies and series include “Stranger Things” and “KPop Demon Hunters”.
It added 589 new Netflix Originals in 2024, up nearly 4% from 2023.
YOUTUBE
Owned by Alphabet, YouTube said in March that it had over 125 million paying subscribers though those figures include users who are signed up for temporary free trials.
Ads comprise the majority of YouTube’s revenue, accounting for $36 billion of Alphabet’s $350 billion in overall 2024 revenue. For the third quarter of 2025, the video streaming service posted advertising revenue of $10.26 billion.
YouTube TV has seen rapid growth as a pay-TV platform and is the fourth-largest pay-TV provider in the U.S. with about 10 million subscribers.
WALT DISNEY
Walt Disney and brother Roy Disney founded “Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio” after signing a contract with distributor M.J. Winkler for “Alice Comedies” in October 1923. The studio was renamed Walt Disney Studios in 1926.
Its portfolio also includes Pixar Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, Searchlight Pictures and 20th Century Studios.
The company’s total revenue rose 3% to $91.36 billion last year.
Disney ended the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 with 196 million Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, an increase of 12.4 million from the year-ago period.
Disney is home to popular film franchises such as “Avengers,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Star Wars”.
It is also home to the ABC network.
Cumulatively through September 28, 2024, the company had released about 1,100 full-length live-action films and 100 full-length animated films.
Disney closed its $71 billion acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc’s film and television assets in 2019, expanding its portfolio of some of the world’s most popular characters, uniting Mickey Mouse, Luke Skywalker and Marvel superheroes with Fox’s X-Men, “Avatar” and “The Simpsons” franchises.
PARAMOUNT GLOBAL
Before its merger with Skydance Media, Paramount’s total revenue fell 1% to $29.21 billion last year. Its TV Media segment revenue, which makes up the bulk of its sales, fell 7% to $18.78 billion, hurt by declines in linear advertising and fewer major sporting events on CBS.
By contrast, the direct-to-consumer division, which includes Paramount+ and Pluto TV, surged 13% to $7.63 billion, driven by subscriber growth and price increases.
Founded in 1912, the studio’s library consists of more than 1,200 film titles including “Star Trek,” “The Godfather” and “Mission: Impossible,” with rights to an additional 2,800.
Paramount is the parent of CBS and agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump against the network over a “60 Minutes” interview.
In the third quarter of 2025, Paramount+ added 1.4 million subscribers, bringing its total to 79.1 million worldwide.
The company also narrowed its streaming losses, signaling progress toward its goal of achieving domestic profitability in 2025.
Paramount Pictures, considered the jewel of Paramount Global, has attracted many suitors over the years.
COMCAST
Total revenue for Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, rose 1.8% to $123.73 billion for fiscal 2024.
Peacock streaming service generated revenue of $4.9 billion last year and as of the third quarter of 2025, Peacock had 41 million total paid subscribers.
Universal Pictures, founded in 1912, has created classics such as “Jurassic Park,” “Fast and Furious,” “Minions,” “Jaws” and “E.T. the Extraterrestrial”.
Its film library consists of more than 6,500 titles, according to its annual report.
Comcast is in the process of spinning off its NBCUniversal cable channels, including USA Network and CNBC, into a new company called Versant early next year.
AMAZON
Amazon.com , best known for its e-commerce business, has built a significant presence in streaming through Prime Video, a service included with its Prime membership that produces a wide range of original programming, from hit series like “The Boys” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” to big-budget films, and also rents and sells movies and TV shows to both members and non-members.
In 2022, Amazon deepened its entertainment push by acquiring MGM for $8.5 billion, adding thousands of films and TV episodes, including the “James Bond” franchise, to its library.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh, Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru and Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona)
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