Posted in: Disney+, Movies, Netflix, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: disney, netflix, opinion, Warner Bros

Disney CEO Bob "AI"ger Offers Netflix/Paramount/Warner Bros Advice

After announcing a deal with OpenAI, Disney CEO Bob Iger had advice regarding the Netflix-Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery deal.

Never let it be said that the CEOs of major multimedia corporations know how to read a room. On the same day that The Walt Disney Company announced a three-year, $1B deal with OpenAI that will see a ton of Disney's IPs (including "Star Wars," Marvel, Pixar, and more) making their way onto the generative AI app Sora 2, Disney CEO Bob Iger, aka "Bob AIger," felt he was in a position to offer some advice to the regulators who would have to approve the pending merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery's studios and streaming service. During an interview with CNBC's Squawk Box, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also checking in, noted that it was "nice to be an observer and not a participant in" the Warner Bros. Discovery bidding process. That said, Iger had some thoughts to share on what he would look at as a regulator, whether it's Netflix or Paramount Skydance getting the final bid (though it seemed he was directing his comments more at the streaming service).

"I think if I were a regulator looking at this combination, I'd look at a few things. First of all, I would look at what the impact is on the consumer. You know, will one company end up with pricing leverage that might be considered a negative or damaging to the consumer, and with a significant amount of streaming subscriptions across the world, really does that ultimately give Netflix pricing leverage over the consumer that it might not necessarily be healthy?" Iger shared.

The Disney CEO continued, "Additionally, I'd look at what the impact might be on what I'll call the creative community, but also on the ecosystem of television and films, particularly motion pictures. These movie theaters, which obviously run our films worldwide, operate with relatively thin margins, and they require not only volume, but they require interaction with these films and these movie companies that give them the ability to monetize successfully. That's a very, very important global business. And I think it's … we've been certainly participating in it in a very big way. We've got $33 billion in films in the last 20 years, and you know, we so we're mindful of protecting the health of that business. It's very important to what I'll call the media media ecosystem globally."

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