Warner Bros. Discovery recently put itself up for sale, and late this week, Netflix submitted a bid to acquire it. Conservatives, from Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA, to conservative commentator Laura Loomer, have expressed grave concerns—and for good reason.
Yes, there are real problems with the other bidders, too. Comcast, for example, has spent years leveraging its cable dominance to squeeze out conservative networks. But Netflix is in a different league entirely. Among the group, its bid poses the most sweeping cultural implications, potentially granting one company unprecedented authority over American viewing choices, narrative framing, and the quiet removal of certain viewpoints from national discourse.
If Netflix succeeds in absorbing Warner Bros. Discovery — the parent company of CNN, HBO, the nation’s most successful movie studio, and some of the most valuable franchises ever created — it would instantly become the most dominant cultural force in modern American history. It would surpass Disney, Comcast, and any legacy studio that has ever existed.
Even if you don’t watch Netflix, or even if you’ve sworn off CNN and HBO, this should still concern you. With over 300 million subscribers worldwide, Netflix is already the world's largest distributor of curated video content. A Netflix–Warner Bros. Discovery takeover would combine a massive share of American storytelling under one roof: films, children’s programming, documentaries, news, prestige dramas, reality TV formats, global streaming content, and the entire Warner Bros. film and television library. It would be cultural centralization on a scale the country has never experienced before.
And unlike traditional cable, where viewers choose their channels, Netflix’s influence is hidden inside a black-box algorithm that promotes certain stories and pushes others aside. Now picture that quiet, algorithmic control over the Warner Bros. film catalog, HBO, CNN, and a century of Hollywood history. Bringing all that intellectual property under one corporate roof creates a cultural superpower unmatched in American life.
Netflix’s interest is obvious. Despite its vast global footprint, the company does not own enough enduring intellectual property. To maintain its dominance, Netflix must remedy this. It must churn out new content to keep subscribers engaged.
What it lacks, and what Warner Bros. has in abundance, is globally recognizable intellectual property: from Harry Potter to Lord of the Rings, the HBO catalog, and of course, the world’s top-ranked movie studio. This single acquisition would solve Netflix’s most significant strategic vulnerability overnight.
But what might seem rational for Netflix shareholders could be dangerously harmful to the competitive cultural marketplace.
Even if Netflix were politically neutral, no single corporation should ever control such a large portion of America’s cultural bloodstream. When consolidation reaches this level, conformity prevails, risk-taking declines, and storytelling becomes more limited. Entire genres or political perspectives vanish because they don’t align with the dominant corporate worldview.
Rep. Darrell Issa cautioned this week that the proposed deal raises “serious antitrust concerns”. He urged Attorney General Pam Bondi, Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, and FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson to “closely scrutinize the risks of allowing a single company to control so much culturally decisive content.” Issa argued that Warner Bros. Discovery “represents not just a studio but a national cultural archive,” and warned that transferring it to Netflix’s centralized algorithm could “distort the competitive marketplace for information.”
Laura Loomer raised a related alarm, suggesting that the Obamas’ deep ties to Netflix, combined with the platform’s algorithmic influence over global content, could amount to what she called an “Obama News Network.” As she put it: “If Netflix acquires Warner Bros. Discovery, conservatives may soon find that the culture-industrial complex is controlled almost entirely by one ideological machine.”
These warnings are not fringe speculation; they reflect a straightforward understanding that cultural influence is real power.
This is the moment when conservatives must insist that their stewards in government safeguard a principle that has guided every successful movement for free expression. That principle is competition. It’s the essential safeguard for preserving freedom of expression.
A future with many studios is one in which audiences determine which stories matter, not a single gatekeeping company. A future with many distributors is one where no company can erase disfavored viewpoints. A future with many creators is one where artistic risk is still welcome and necessary.
If Netflix absorbs Warner Bros. Discovery, future generations may grow up in a world where one single corporation decides which narratives deserve sunlight and which quietly fade into obscurity. That is far too much authority for any company in a free society.
The Trump Justice Department must approach this moment with the gravity it deserves. At a minimum, the DOJ can extract real concessions that protect creators, maintain competition, and prevent ideological capture.
Hollywood’s future should belong to many voices, many creators, and many diverse perspectives, not just one algorithmic giant with the power to shape America’s cultural imagination from top to bottom.
Haley Kennington (@LadyKennington) is a conservative commentator and social media influencer who served as the Research Director Story Editor for “2020:The Plot Against the President” and Research Director Story Editor for The Daily Wire’s “What Is a Woman?” and “Am I Racist?”