What does Netflix’s offer to buy HBO Max mean for you?

Netflix announced plans Friday to get Warner Bros. Discovery’s movie studios and streaming assets, including HBO Max, and subscribers of some streaming giants whitethorn present beryllium wondering what changes could travel to their contented and their monthly bills.

While Netflix NFLX expects to adjacent the woody — valued astatine $82.7 cardinal — successful the adjacent 12 to 18 months, media experts don’t expect immoderate worldly changes for consumers for astatine slightest 2 years. The woody is inactive “far from done,” according to streaming media adept Dan Rayburn, arsenic the institution faces regulatory hurdles, a bidding warfare with Paramount Skydance PSKY and the method complexity of integrating 2 streaming ecosystems.

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“You’re going to person a ton of media and amusement Hollywood radical saying, ‘Hey, we don’t similar this deal,’” Rayburn said. “Netflix already has excessively overmuch power, they think. Now they’re going to person adjacent much power. There’s a batch of moving pieces here.”

Netflix’s banal was down 2.5% successful day trading, portion shares of Warner Bros. Discovery WBD were up 5.1%.

The outgo of streaming services matters, particularly for price-sensitive consumers who are piling connected indebtedness and feeling the strain of inflation. While streaming mightiness beryllium considered a non-essential luxury, it has go a pervasive disbursal arsenic galore person abandoned their cablegram boxes. The mean U.S. household present subscribes to 4 paid streaming services, costing them $69 per month, according to a integer media study from Deloitte.

For now, thing volition alteration regarding rank plans, and the 2 streaming services volition proceed to run separately, Netflix told MarketWatch successful an email. Warner Bros. Discovery did not respond to questions astir imaginable changes to HBO Max.

However, comments from executives and however past acquisitions person played retired tin supply immoderate penetration into however the 2 streaming giants could yet merge. Here are a fewer ways a woody could impact subscribers successful the coming years.

Netflix executives floated the thought of bundling Netflix and HBO Max unneurotic successful an capitalist telephone Friday morning, highlighting the beardown overlap betwixt HBO Max subscribers and Netflix subscribers. Netflix subscriptions presently scope from $7.99 to $24.99 per month, depending connected the plan, portion HBO Max plans scope from $10.99 and $22.99 per month.