Netflix vs. Paramount
Whoever wins... we lose?
December 25, 2025
26 min
161
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333 of 364

Episode 161 · December 25, 2025
Netflix vs. Paramount
0:00 / 26:13
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The Atlantic Episodes Around December 25, 2025
Episode 333 of 364 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
26:13This episodeNetflix vs. Paramount
Summary
It was a great year for Warner Bros. Discovery: Two of its movies (One Battle After Another and Sinners) are front-runners for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and it had a string of critical hits and box-office successes with Superman, Weapons, and A Minecraft Movie. But despite those wins, the media conglomerate—which also owns HBO and CNN—found itself up for auction with two aggressive bidders: Paramount and Netflix.
The Atlantic movie critic David Sims explains why this deal could be bad for the movies. And our staff writer Frank Foer lays out why this deal could be bad for democracy—especially if President Donald Trump gets involved.
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