Netflix agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery's studios and HBO for $72-82 billion. The headline says content consolidation. The business logic says something different.

This episode breaks down the real incentives: Netflix needs premium content libraries to reduce churn and justify price increases. WBD needs to shed debt. The hidden story is that Netflix is essentially admitting original programming alone can't sustain growth—they need legacy IP and prestige brands like HBO.

What this means for the streaming landscape, potential regulatory hurdles, and what it signals about the future of media consolidation.

The takeaway: This isn't about entertainment—it's about leverage, balance sheets, and who controls distribution.

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