David Ellison was again invited Thursday to testify before Congress to advocate for Paramount’s Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition — just after the legacy studio’s offer was determined to be “superior” to Netflix’s and the streamer bowed out of the bidding war.
Sen. Cory Booker renewed his invitation for the CEO to appear during the Antitrust Subcommittee meeting already scheduled with Netflix leadership for March 4.
“In his Jan. 29 letter to Sen. Booker, Mr. Ellison assured the subcommittee that Paramount would be willing to testify before Congress were it to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery,” a spokesperson said in a statement to TheWrap. “In light of today’s announcement that Warner Bros. Discovery has designated Paramount’s offer a Company Superior Proposal, next week’s hearing presents a timely and appropriate opportunity for Mr. Ellison to make good on that commitment.”
TheWrap previously reported Thursday that the Senate Judiciary’s subcommittee on antitrust, competition and consumer rights was due to put the $83 billion Netflix-Warner Bros. deal in the hot seat for a second time. The new hearing, slated for March 4 at 2:30 p.m. ET, was to examine competition and monopsony concerns related to the proposed combination. Witnesses for the hearing have not yet been announced, but the Ellison invitation likely indicates a change in plans.
Booker’s renewed invitation for Ellison to appear came after an initial call for the Paramount CEO’s presence earlier this month (ultimately an absence that “frustrated” the senator) and just minutes after Netflix announced that it is declining to match Paramount’s raised bid of $31 per share. The Warner Bros. Discovery board said earlier Thursday the raise constituted a “superior proposal” to Netflix’s $83 billion deal for its studio and streaming assets.
“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a statement of their decision. “However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.”
The rapid-fire developments came the same day Sarandos was headed to Washington to meet with Attorney General Pam Bondi, DOJ antitrust officials and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about the streamer’s Warner Bros. deal. It is unclear if Sarandos’ meeting at the White House also included Trump.
Representatives for Paramount did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
