"Who's watching?" Netflix asks whenever someone accesses its site. On Friday, it was probably everyone with an interest in business, markets and television.
The key characters that had people hooked were Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery , which jointly announced that the streaming giant will acquire the latter's film studio and streaming service, HBO Max. The equity deal value is pegged at $72 billion.
Netflix investors did not seem too jazzed about the deal, with shares dropping 2.89% on the sheer size of the transaction.
"Look, the math is going to hurt Netflix for a while. There's no doubt," Rich Greenfield, co-founder of LightShed Partners, told CNBC. "This is expensive," he added.
But if one side is paying a lot, that means the other is receiving a bounty. Indeed, investors cheered the potential Warner Bros. Discovery windfall, sending the stock up 6.3% on the news.
It is not a done deal yet, and faces regulatory scrutiny. U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be involved in the decision, Reuters reported Monday, after a senior official from the Trump administration told CNBC's Eamon Javers on Friday that they viewed the deal with "heavy scepticism."
Despite this initial show of resistance, stranger things have happened in this administration, and the transaction might eventually go through. We may as well get ready for Netflix's next blockbuster: "The K-Pop Demon Hunters' Song of Ice and Fire"?