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Cordkillers 578: Netflix and the Chamber of Warners (with Andy Beach)
🕑 Added 2025-12-10 02:52:48 +0000 UTCNetflix moves to swallow Warner Bros.’ studio and streaming business in a massive cash-and-stock deal, while Paramount mounts a hostile counterbid straight to shareholders. Meanwhile, the future of your watchlist is filling up fast with Peaky Blinders, Ghibli in 4K, the final season of The Boys, and more TV and movie shuffles on the horizon.
This week on The FULL Experience: No FULL This Week
Next week: Taxi (524 - "Simka's Monthlies")
YouTube: https://youtu.be/sxW8jJnEGcQ
Supply Run
Netflix moves to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming arm, Paramount crashes the party
WBD shareholders have agreed to sell the Studio and Streaming side (including Warner Bros. studio, HBO Max, and Turner Classic Movies) to Netflix in a cash-and-stock deal valuing shares at roughly $27.80 each, with closing targeted 12–18 months after WBD’s split into two companies (outside date March 4, 2027, plus extensions). Netflix would get the Warner catalog from Casablanca to Harry Potter, but not cable nets like CNN, Discovery, or TNT, with WBD CEO David Zaslav reportedly staying on to run the Warner studio side within Netflix. Co-CEO Greg Peters sees HBO Max as a big subscriber growth engine, hinting at bundles and tiers where HBO Max could remain a standalone option, while Ted Sarandos says theatrical plans for Warner films will remain intact for now. Paramount and Skydance fired back with a $30-per-share all-cash hostile bid for the whole company, pitching up to $6 billion in cost savings and arguing their offer is cleaner on regulation (Netflix’s is partly financed by a huge debt package, and Paramount’s backers include Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds with non-voting shares). Regulators in the US and EU, plus political voices, are already signaling scrutiny, even as many experts think the Netflix–Warner deal is likely to be approved.
Financial Times – Netflix agrees $83bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery
Deadline – HBO’s value will be “unlocked” by merger
Reuters – Paramount/Skydance $30 per share hostile offer
Deadline – Netflix committed to Warner Bros. theatrical releases
Bloomberg – Netflix’s $59 billion loan for Warner Bros. deal
Deadline – Experts say deal unlikely to be blocked
Hollywood Reporter – Netflix “expects” to release Warner films theatrically
Deadline – Gunnar Wiedenfels to lead “Discovery Global” cable networks
Variety – Will Netflix and HBO Max be combined?
Deadline – Regulatory and political reaction
Wall Street Journal – Paramount–Skydance Warner hostile bid
Deadline – Theatrical implications if Paramount wins instead
Deadline – Paramount’s targeted cost savings
Deadline – More reaction from Netflix, Paramount, and regulators
Deadline – Why the Netflix–Warner deal will (probably) be approved
Tom Merritt – Why Netflix buying Warner is not crazy
Search Party
Peaky Blinders rides again with The Immortal Man
The Peaky Blinders saga continues with The Immortal Man, hitting select cinemas March 6, 2026, before a global Netflix debut on March 20; Tommy Shelby returns from exile in WWII-era Birmingham for one last reckoning, with two six-part sequel series planned to follow starting in 1953.
A lighter side of Westeros in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms adapts The Hedge Knight novella, following Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg, about 50 years after House of the Dragon and a century before Game of Thrones, promising a slightly more playful tone in Westeros.
Men in Black gets a fifth film
Sony has hired Chris Bremner (writer of Bad Boys for Life and Bad Boys: Ride or Die) to draft a script for a fifth Men in Black movie, signaling another trip back to the franchise of galaxy-defending agents in dark suits.
Studio Ghibli goes 4K in IMAX
GKIDS and IMAX are teaming up to bring 4K restorations of Studio Ghibli classics to North American theaters starting in 2026, following prior success with Princess Mononoke and promising more Ghibli titles in premium large-format runs.
Tygo expands the Extraction universe
Netflix announced Tygo, an action thriller that expands the Extraction universe, pairing Blackpink’s Lisa with action star Don Lee and Squid Game actor Lee Jin-uk in a new high-octane story.
Amazon adds a free news tab on Fire TV
Amazon is rolling out a dedicated News tab for US customers, bundling free live streams from ABC News Live, CBS News 24/7, LiveNOW from Fox, CNN Headlines, and NBC News NOW in one place so you don’t have to jump between apps.
The Boys set their final season date
The fifth and final season of The Boys hits Prime Video on April 8, 2026, with weekly episodes through May 20 as the show wraps its ultraviolent superhero satire.
Buried Treasure
Andy: Taskmaster (YouTube)
Andy recommends Taskmaster on YouTube, the British panel show where comedians compete in bizarre tasks under the watchful eye of Greg Davies and Alex Horne—great for quick, funny, highly bingeable episodes.
Brian: Alien: Earth (Hulu)
Brian’s pick is Alien: Earth on Hulu, plus he’s cashing in his “being right” coupons by rewatching Pluribus yet again—sci-fi and speculative drama for when you want something a bit out there.
Tom: Typhoon Family (Netflix)
Tom highlights Typhoon Family on Netflix, a darkly comic family drama that starts with a funeral and gets weirder from there.
Scanning the Horizon
Golden Globes nominations tilt toward HBO and Netflix
The Golden Globes are back, with HBO’s The White Lotus leading TV nominees at six, Netflix’s Adolescence close behind, and Only Murders in the Building and Severance scoring multiple nods, while on the film side One Battle After Another, Sentimental Value, Sinners, Hamnet, Frankenstein, and Wicked: For Good top the list. The ceremony airs Sunday, January 11, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on CBS and Paramount+.
NBCUniversal, YouTube, and maybe Amazon want the Oscars after 2028
With Disney/ABC’s Oscars deal expiring in 2028, Deadline reports NBCUniversal is interested in picking up the rights starting in 2029, with YouTube also bidding and Amazon potentially in the mix, setting up a new fight over where the Academy Awards live.
Pay TV finally posts a subscriber increase (for now)
For the first time since 2017, US pay-TV subscriptions (cable, satellite, and streaming bundles) collectively rose in Q3, gaining 303,000 customers overall as YouTube TV added around 750,000 subs and losses at other providers slowed.
Versant says it’s not on a linear shopping spree
As NBCUniversal’s cable networks (minus Bravo) spin off into a new company called Versant, CEO Mark Lazarus and CFO Anand Kini say they’re happy with their current portfolio and are not looking to gobble up more linear TV assets after they separate from Comcast.
Jimmy Kimmel re-ups with ABC through at least 2027
Jimmy Kimmel has signed a one-year extension with Disney’s ABC, keeping Jimmy Kimmel Live! on the air through at least 2027, with the deal reportedly agreed to months ago but announced later out of respect for Stephen Colbert.
Chatter
David’s DIY Plex server and streaming escape plan
David runs his own Plex server on an old PC with dual 4TB drives and admits most of his library was downloaded because buying everything would be impractical, though he owns some physically. He uses a lifetime Plex Pass, self-hosted tools like Immich, and notes that as paid services add ads, his less techy family members are starting to prefer his ad-free, all-in-one setup.
Andrew on lifetime Plex, pirates vs. archivists, and “bit shifting”
Andrew bought a Plex lifetime pass in 2016 for $120 (now $250) and says he’d pay even more to support ad-free software. He sees Plex users as either pirates who won’t share or disc-rippers who back up what they own, puts himself firmly in the latter group, and admits to “bit shifting” some streamed shows into Plex for offline viewing and resilience.
Ryan’s journey from piracy to public media and back to Plex
Ryan used to rely heavily on Plex for piracy but moved almost entirely to legal streaming as it got easier, even uninstalling Plex for years. A moment watching PBS on YouTube while renewing YouTube Premium made him rethink who he pays, so he cancelled services, pledged to public media, grabbed a VPN, and is rebuilding his Plex library strictly as a replacement for streaming subscriptions—still preferring to rent or buy when possible.
*Danny’s warning about the Arr ecosystem around Plex and Jellyfin
Danny points out that the self-hosting community is now saturated with *Arr tools like Sonarr, Radarr, and Lidarr, which make high-volume piracy easy for anyone with storage and a basic guide. He worries that the visibility of these tools, plus their tight integration with Plex and Jellyfin, could create bad optics for Plex when ISPs or governments look for excuses to crack down.
Scott wants the FULLR experience (with behind-the-scenes lore)
Scott appreciates the “FULL” viewing experiment but thinks it’s missing the behind-the-scenes drama fans love, like network meddling on Firefly or Andy Kaufman’s antics on Taxi. He suggests adding a “Research” component—behind-the-scenes facts and lore—to create a “FULLR” experience that better simulates actually being a fan.
Kevin pitches “ParaMax” as a branding mash-up
Kevin floats “ParaMax” as a possible name for a combined Paramount+ and HBO Max service, maybe with HBO as a separate prestige add-on. He compares it to setups like Disney+ and Hulu, Prime and MGM+, and wonders if splitting the HBO brand from the main bundle might make sense.
