Netflix is winning the streaming wars. Now it\u2019s making it clear it wants to win just about everything else.<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s largest streamer reported 18% year-over-year revenue growth <\/a>and a jump in subscribers Tuesday as it signals a new phase of ambition, one that stretches from movie theaters and live sports to advertising and beyond. It’s also pushing ahead with a high-stakes bid for Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s studios and streaming assets. <\/p>\n Netflix confirmed Tuesday that it has amended its bid for Warner Bros. and HBO to an all-cash offer as rival Paramount Skydance presses its own bid for the entire company.<\/p>\n “We\u2019re working really hard to close the acquisition of Warner Bros. Studios and HBO, which we see as a strategic accelerant,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on the company’s earnings call Tuesday afternoon. <\/p>\n Sarandos said he is confident the deal will clear regulatory hurdles and expand competition, calling it \u201cpro-consumer, pro-innovation, pro-worker, pro-creator and pro-growth.\u201d<\/p>\n The revised deal structure is expected to streamline the approval process, allowing Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders to vote on the transaction as early as April.<\/p>\n The timing underscores a shift across the broader media landscape as consolidation accelerates and entertainment companies compete fiercely for viewers\u2019 time.<\/p>\n Streaming captured a record 47.5% of total television viewing in December, according to the media analytics company Nielsen<\/a>, the highest share ever recorded. YouTube remained the single largest streaming platform by viewing time, underscoring how Netflix\u2019s biggest competition increasingly extends beyond traditional media rivals.<\/p>\n “YouTube has full-length films, new episodes of scripted and unscripted TV shows. They have NFL football games. They have the Oscars. They are TV,\u201d Sarandos said on the call. \u201cSo we all compete with them in every dimension \u2014 for talent, for ad dollars, for subscription dollars and for attention.\u201d<\/p>\n Netflix, however, operates at a scale unmatched by its subscription-based streaming peers. A direct-to-consumer streaming platform unburdened by struggling linear television networks or sprawling theme park and theatrical businesses, the company focused entirely on capturing viewers and built an early lead in streaming.<\/p>\n As the attention economy grew more crowded, Netflix\u2019s position only strengthened. <\/p>\n Netflix has largely stopped reporting subscriber totals, saying it would only update the figure when hitting key milestones. In its fourth quarter earnings report, however, the company said it crossed 325 million paid memberships. That\u2019s more than double the size of Disney+. <\/p>\n Instead of focusing on sign-ups, Netflix has shifted attention to how much money the business brings in and how people actually use the platform.<\/p>\n That engagement push has included new ways to keep viewers actively involved, with Netflix announcing a real-time voting feature<\/a> that will debut during select live programs beginning Tuesday. Netflix also branched out into party games<\/a> last year, another offering that features interactivity.<\/p>\n In a recent client note, JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth said how viewers interact with newer parts of Netflix\u2019s business \u2014 including original content, live and sports programming, and advertising \u2014 is now a clearer measure of the company\u2019s success as it stretches beyond the traditional streaming model.<\/p>\n But that expanding ambition, which now includes the potential takeover of parts of Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s business, comes with trade-offs, some analysts say.<\/p>\n \u201cNetflix\u2019s simplicity was its superpower,\u201d Matthew Dolgin, media analyst at the investment research company <\/strong>Morningstar, told NBC News. He said the risk isn\u2019t that Netflix loses its dominance in streaming, but that it complicates a model that succeeded precisely because of its focus.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a tension point increasingly evident in the company\u2019s own rhetoric.<\/p>\n