"In 2000, Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph sat down across from John Antioco, then CEO of video rental giant Blockbuster, and pitched him on acquiring their still unprofitable DVD-by-mail startup, Netflix, which at the time had around 300,000 subscribers. But when they told him their price-$50 million and the chance to develop and run Blockbuster's online rental business-Antioco balked. It was a famously shortsighted business decision:"
"Now Netflix-a behemoth that has moved far beyond streaming others' films and shows, with an estimated $18 billion content spend for 2025-is writing the sequel, following the same underdog-towinner trope. It announced in early December an $82.7 billion deal to become the new owner of the storied Warner Bros. film and television studios, plus cable crown jewel HBO and streamer HBO Max."
"The deal comes some 15 years after an executive who previously oversaw those very assets dismissed the notion of Netflix being a threat to Hollywood's power structures: Jeff Bewkes, then CEO of Warner Bros. parent Time Warner, described that scenario in 2010 as "a little bit like, is the Albanian army going to take over the world?""
Netflix grew from a DVD-by-mail startup with about 300,000 subscribers to a dominant streaming company after Blockbuster declined a $50 million acquisition offer. Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy by 2010 while Netflix expanded into original content and streaming. Netflix announced an $82.7 billion offer to acquire Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max while projecting an estimated $18 billion content spend for 2025. The deal follows earlier industry skepticism, including Jeff Bewkes’s 2010 comparison likening Netflix’s threat to an "Albanian army." Rival Paramount mounted a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, underscoring competitive tension around major media consolidation.
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