Netflix has four days to safeguard its future
There are lawyers, business analysts, and other Netflix execs who have been telling friends and family for the past few days that any plans they commit to this weekend are tenuous. All it would take is for Warner Bros Discovery to give the nod of approval to the new deal offered by Paramount to put in place the four-day period for Netflix to counter the proposal.
Those weekend plans are now ruined.
The WBD board has accepted Paramount’s latest $31-per-share offer as a “company superior proposal.” The WBD hasn’t withdrawn its recommendation of Netflix as the best steward for the business, but it does mean Netflix has four days starting from Thursday afternoon to make a counter offer.
Netflix now has to decide whether to make a higher bid (which I think it will) or whether it will cut its losses.
My belief has been that Netflix is all in on making this deal happen, despite the grown-up “If the deal no longer makes sense…” comments by Ted Sarandos in the past week. Yes, the stock market have rejected the purchase, knocking about 30% off the value of Netflix since it was announced as the winning bidder. But can Netflix afford not to purchase the WB business?
Why Netflix NEEDS the Warner Bros (and their sister Dot):
The library. Netflix needs access to competitors libraries to supplement its own. Library titles, often titles from WB, are the most watched titles on the service. That library access keeps the business going.
Netflix is nearing the top of its ability to grow the existing business. Giving it theatrical helps. Giving it production and distribution via Warner Bros Television helps. Also, the value of the HBO library gives Netflix the opportunity to create higher tier packages that can drive greater ARPU from its existing subscribers.
Netflix is already getting squeezed by platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Can it afford greater competition in the SVOD space from the likes of Paramount?
The WB library gives Netflix the capability to move into the FAST space with a more compelling library of titles at greater pace. This is going to be hugely important as the likes of Tubi and Pluto gain greater presence in the US and abroad.
The Baywatch open casting call
I’m delighted by the return of Baywatch later this year on Fox. I’m sure it won’t be great TV. I’m doubtful I’ll even watch all that much of it. I’m also not ruling out watching every damn episode.
A few weeks ago there was an open casting call for actors to be discovered and star in Baywatch 2026. Variety has a smile-inducing feature story on its site today about the many hopefuls and oddballs who turned out to audition.
Fourteen thousand people submitted reels and headshots, and only 2,000 of them were invited to audition. Hundreds flew across the country to spend 45 seconds reading a few lines of dialogue. Among the people gathered outside the hotel: A mother and daughter with zero acting experience who came in from Colorado. A math tutor in a self-diagnosed “midlife crisis.” An influencer who had never heard of “Baywatch” until she saw the casting call. A woman caked in white face paint who explains, bluntly, “I’m a clown.”
While, as the article notes, this was less an actual open casting call and more a publicity event for the show (the smart PR move here is that it emphasises the integrity of the show as it will be produced on the beaches of Los Angeles), I thought this quote from showrunner Matt Nix was good at highlighting the added benefits of staging this sort of event:
While the series is set to begin shooting in March, the range of opportunities is indeed wide. The producers are looking to cast lifeguards, barflies, extras and even series regulars. “We have a season’s worth of people that need to be saved on the beach,” showrunner Matt Nix tells me. Some roles have yet to be written. “Walking through the lobby, I was like, ‘Oh, wait a second. We didn’t even think about this character, and I just saw three of them,’” Nix says. “I literally just texted the head of casting for Fox.”
The event even drew out a bona fide celebrity, in the absolute loosest, kookiest sense of the word:
A 77-year-old woman named Margaret “BB” Dupré — clad in a pink cowboy hat, a studded black corset and fingerless gloves — worked as a stand-in for Anderson on the original series (“Any part where Pamela wouldn’t get her hair wet, it was me”). Her business card bears a photo of her in a swimsuit and reads: “Painter/Sculptor/Writer/Psychic.”
News Desk
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cecily Strong will star in Apple TV series Nanny Squatter from If I Had Legs I’d Kick You director Mary Bronstein. Read: THR
Greg Mottola is on board as the director of The Rockford Files pilot. A great choice and one only needs to look to his film Confess, Fletch for an example of what this will end up looking like (or any Mottola film, really, as they all look a lot alike). Read: Variety
Netflix and Apple TV will share live coverage of the Canadian Grand Prix in May. Read: Deadline
Channel 4’s interim CEO Jonathan Allan is leaving after 15 years. Read: WorldScreen
Smiling Friends, an oddball Adult Swim cartoon that was building a very loyal fan base, will end with its third season with creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel both feeling burned out. The show had been greenlit for two more seasons. Read: THR
Brian VanHooker offers what is probably going to be the deepest dive article one will ever read about the 90s Iron Man cartoon, which apparently rebooted and got darker in its second season. Read: Polygon
The US Today is working on the assumption that host Savannah Guthrie will return, but also believe it may be a long time before she feels ready to return. Read: Variety
Channel 5 has commissioned a feature-length factual drama centred on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Read: C21
Animal Control has been renewed for a fifth season at Fox. I think we can safely call this Joel McHale’s most successful show now (commercially successful… obviously his most artistically successful show was The Soup). Read: THR
Production is underway on the A Different World sequel series. Read: thefutoncritic
Trailer Park
Dynasty: The Murdochs debuts on Netflix March 13.
The series offers an unprecedented look at one the world's most powerful families at a crossroads, as its patriarch, Rupert Murdoch, makes one last play to ensure his legacy at all costs.
Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat debuts March 20.
The Comeback will return for season 3 on March 22.
20 years after its debut, the HBO Original comedy series returns with Lisa Kudrow reprising her Emmy-nominated role as actress Valerie Cherish.
A Taste For Murder debuts on Britbox April 7 in the US. It’ll be on ITVX in the UK and on 7Plus in Australia, but I don’t believe a release date has been announced for either.
Set amidst the steep cliffs and fast tides of Capri, A Taste for Murder features classic Italian cuisine as the main ingredient to each episode's central murder mystery, revealing the power of food to foster connection, community, and healing after devastating loss.
The hilariously-titled Jo Nesbo’s Detective Hole debuts March 26 on Netflix.
When a series of ritualistic murders hits Oslo, a gifted detective must navigate a puzzle of patterns, corruption and his own demons to catch the killer.
The Red Line debuts on Netflix March 26.
Three women fall prey to a ruthless phone scam. To settle the score, they'll take on the criminal network that stole their money - and their dignity.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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