As for Seeing Films in Theaters, Netflix Deal Could Be the End

There are long lists of potential winners and losers in the Netflix deal, which can prove short-sighted; the company's CEOs had to take time last week to assure investors that its acquisition of the Warner Bros. Discovery film and TV studios won't turn out to be a "media business fiasco" on the scale of the 2000 merger of AOL and Time Warner, per Deadline. But those who make, exhibit, or watch films designed for the big screen of a theater are justified in their concerns, writes Megan McArdle in an opinion piece in the Washington Post. Netflix is all about streaming.

"Our primary goal is to bring first-run movies to our members, because that's what they're looking for," co-CEO Ted Sarandos said Friday. If films are allowed only short runs in theaters, even the way films are made could change. "Everything about the medium is optimized for theaters: its visual language, its lavish production budgets and even its length (long enough to be worth leaving the house for, not so long that your butt goes numb)," McArdle writes. But the change is happening with or without this $72 billion deal, she says. Just look at the short story. McArdle's full piece can be found here.