From big screen to stream
Netflix says it will buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion, one of the most colossal mergers in recent Hollywood history. Here’s a look at the beginnings of the Hollywood studios and what the entertainment landscape is like today.
The film industry has always been changing from silence to sound or VHS to DVDs. The giant Netflix merger is sure to shift the streaming landscape. It gives the streaming giant control of rival HBO Max and a storied film studio.
Warner Bros. rejected a more expensive takeover from Paramount this week saying the Netflix deal was better for shareholders.In December Netflix released statements on their intention to acquire part of Warner Bros. Discovery, while also looking to alleviate concerns in Hollywood about the blockbuster deal’s potential impact on the movie business.
In a regulatory filing, Netflix co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos pledged that the streaming giant would continue to release movies to theaters.
“We haven’t prioritized theatrical in the past because that wasn’t our business at Netflix,” the pair said in a letter addressed to Netflix employees, highlighting the company’s strategic pivot. “When this deal closes, we will be in that business.”
The big net of Netflix
Netflix was conceived in 1997 by Reed Hastings (the current CEO) and Marc Randolph. Both were big players in the West Coast tech scene.
Originally a DVD-rental service, in the same vein as Blockbuster, Netflix broke ground with its mail-order service. The company struggled in the early 2000s, but went public in 2007 and began its video streaming service.
Netflix began producing its own programming in 2012 and by 2020 earned more Oscar nominations than any other film studio.Today Netflix reached 301.6 million paid subscribers globally. The United States has 81.44 million Netflix subscribers, making it the largest single market. In Q3 2025, Netflix made $11.51 billion in revenue, a 17% year-over-year increase. The quarterly operating cost was 28.2%, lower than the expected 31.5% margin.
Netflix blazed a trail that other corporations have followed in the streaming world. Disney, Prime Video and Peacock to name a few.
According to a April 2025 Pew Research Center survey, 55% of Americans watch streaming only. 36% said they stream and subscribe to cable TV.
Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are the most widely used of the streaming platforms. Some 72% say they ever watch programming on Netflix, and a slightly smaller share (67%) say this about Amazon Prime Video.
Notable movie studios
1912 – Carl Laemmle’s Independent Moving Pictures Company merged with five other film companies to create the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, headed by Laemmle. For the first time, a single entity encompassed all facets of the movie industry: production, distribution and exhibition.
1914 – Paramount Pictures began when Adolph Zukor, the owner of a New York nickelodeon, released the first full-length drama shown in the United States, “Queen Elizabeth,” starring Sarah Bernhardt and founded the Famous Players Film Company.
1915 – William Fox formed Fox Film Corporation which later became 20th Century Fox through merger in 1935.
1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith and Mary Pickford form United Artists.
1923 – Warner Bros. is established by four brothers. It is the first studio to develop “talkies” by 1926. In 1990 it became a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.
1924 – MGM is formed out of the merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company. It is headed by Marcus Loew, owner of a theater chain. It has had a topsy turvy history of acquisitions (Ted Turner and Sony) and bankruptcy filings. It has been owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon since 2022.
1924 – CBC Film Sales changes its name to Columbia Pictures Corporation. It was owned by Coca-Cola for a while and has been owned by Sony since 1987. In its early years it was associated with Frank Capra and the Three Stooges.
Sources: Forbes, Netflix, Thenumbers.com, CBS News, Nielsen, Businessofapps.com, Pew Research Center, Warner Bros., The Academy Museum
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