Consolidation creates possibility and danger. Historically, offering Black storytellers a platform and later, snatching it away.
3. Data-driven decision-making overrules creative risk
Netflix is fundamentally a technology company. Its ethos prioritizes data, optimization, and agility. This is smart business but often overshadows creative risk-taking, which is the spinal cord to cultural progress.
Under a Netflix-led Warner Bros., would Sinners have been greenlit at that scale? Would Coogler have secured such a rare, creator-favorable deal structure?
Data-driven forecasting is often used to reinforce the disproven myth that Black film and TV don’t perform. When data intelligence overrules cultural intelligence, Black storytelling becomes vulnerable to algorithmic erasure.
To Netflix’s credit, the streamer backed series like Mara Brock-Akil’s Forever and Survival of the Thickest starring Michelle Buteau and Tasha Smith. But inheriting Warner’s creative engine means the bar must be set higher. Way high up. Not merely maintained.
4. Deepened dependency on Black dollars and cultural power, with little investment
A Netflix–Warner Bros. combination creates the single most powerful entertainment company in the world. But no entertainment company generates meaningful profits without Black consumers, who historically over-index on time spent on entertainment, and whose cultural leadership and taste drive innovation across the industry.
Netflix leans heavily into “Strong Black Lead”, a social-first marketing vertical launched early 2018 to increase Black subscribers. The streamer’s leadership, including co-CEO Ted Sarandos, publicly supported former Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential run. But there remains a wide gap between messaging and the company’s investment in Black senior leaders, Black producers, and Black original programming.
A merger at this scale could also trigger subscription cost increases, disproportionately impacting communities already facing inflation in housing, food, and digital access. Black influence fuels the entertainment business. Yet Black creatives rarely receive equitable investment in return.
The Road Ahead: antitrust, power, and the stakes for Black culture
Although the sale is agreed upon, it still requires regulatory approval. The Department of Justice and the FCC will evaluate antitrust implications—concerns that often lead to required divestitures, spin-offs, ownership caps, or mandates around content distribution.
Following Netflix’s deal announcement, Paramount, in a last ditch effort, launched an even more aggressive bid to secure Warner Bros, including its television networks, valued at $108.4 billion. David Ellison’s SkyDance company acquired Paramount for $8 billion summer 2025 with support from father Larry Ellison, co-founder of software company Oracle. Skydance has since laid off over 1,000 Paramount employees. Both father and son have shown political alignment with President Trump behind-the-scenes. Reportedly, Trump is more enthusiastic about Ellison’s bid for Warner, signaling the president would push for speedy FCC approval.
