Netflix’s $83bn swoop on Warner Bros. primes creator showdown with YouTube

Netflix’s planned $83bn takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and streaming division presents both risks and opportunities for the creator economy. If successful, it would hand Netflix control of one of Hollywood’s most powerful players – but it also pulls the streamer into more direct competition with YouTube, as both platforms fight for creator loyalty and cultural relevance.

Announcing the blockbuster deal on Friday, Netflix said the tie-up would combine its global reach with Warner Bros.’ production assets and franchises, expanding its library and strengthening its long-term investment in content. The acquisition covers WBD’s film and streaming businesses – not its cable-TV networks, which are being spun off into a separate company ahead of the sale. Crucially, Netflix also said the deal would “create more opportunities for the creative community,” giving talent access to major IP and wider global audiences.

That promise fits a broader shift already underway at Netflix, which has spent the better part of the year signalling that creators are becoming central to its future strategy. In January, it brought Rachel Anne Accurso, better known as Ms Rachel, onto its platform, giving her access to Netflix’s global subscriber base and expanding her audience beyond YouTube.

In August, it added Mark Rober to its roster. The former NASA engineer, who has more than 70 million YouTube subscribers, will front a new Netflix competition series produced with Jimmy Kimmel in January.

And in October, Netflix moved deeper into creator-adjacent formats by partnering with Spotify to bring video versions of The Ringer’s biggest podcasts to Netflix from 2026, a move that directly aligns the platform with creator-led viewing habits YouTube has dominated for a decade.

Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos has been unusually open about the reasoning behind these moves. 

Speaking on Emma Grede’s Aspire podcast in September, he said creators today “have a lot more opportunity and access to break through,” but face rising production costs and platforms that won’t shoulder the financial risk of bigger ideas. In a separate interview at the Paley Center for Media, he contrasted Netflix’s approach with YouTube’s model, which only pays creators once they hit subscriber and watch-time thresholds. 

“YouTube doesn’t give them any money upfront to make it,” he said. “They’re doing it all at their own risk.”

Sarandos argued that Netflix can “share in the financial risk” and support more ambitious storytelling – a pitch aimed directly at top YouTube creators. With WBD’s library and production ecosystem behind it, that pitch becomes even more powerful.

A combined Netflix-WBD would create an extensive pipeline for creator-led work, from documentaries and unscripted shows to video podcasts and scripted content. For those keen to game social media algorithms, Netflix may emerge as the premium alternative, offering global distribution, upfront financing and the ability to build out IP rather than simply pump a feed.

But the risks are equally clear. Consolidation may tighten an already concentrated market, giving Netflix control over WBD’s assets just as YouTube pushes further ahead in global viewing. 

In March, analyst firm MoffettNathanson called YouTube the “new king of all media,” valuing it at around $550bn and predicting it will become the world’s largest media company next year. In February, YouTube topped Nielsen’s monthly TV usage with 11.6 percent of all US household viewing – driven overwhelmingly by creator content that costs YouTube nothing to produce, a sharp contrast to Netflix’s cost-heavy model.

Still, for smaller creators, there are legitimate concerns about access. A larger Netflix may naturally favour established names and proven formats, which raises the question of whether consolidation will genuinely expand opportunities or simply narrow the path into premium platforms.

Lawmakers are also already sounding the alarm. Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday called the takeover “an anti-monopoly nightmare,” saying it could leave viewers with higher prices and fewer choices. FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya was even blunter, warning on X the deal would “hurt independent writers, directors and producers,” and arguing the ecosystem for discovering new talent is already shrinking.

For all the scale and ambition behind the deal, it’s clear that YouTube’s rise is forcing Netflix to evolve, and creators now sit at the centre of that competitive shift. If the deal is approved, the creator economy enters a new phase – one defined by convergence, consolidation and two global giants pulling creators in very different directions.