Disney’s Bob Iger Warns Netflix Could Squeeze Consumers if it Snatches Up Warner Bros.

Disney CEO Bob Iger may not be directly in the Paramount versus Netflix cage match for Warner Bros. Discovery, but he sure isn’t sitting quietly in the cheap seats either.

As the streaming arms race escalates again, Iger is dropping commentary that feels less like neutral observation and more like a veteran general watching two rookies reach for a nuclear button.

And since this is the same Disney that swallowed 20th Century Fox whole and locked down Hulu like a dragon on a gold hoard, there is something amusing about hearing Iger suddenly get philosophical about consolidation and protecting consumers.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box during a joint appearance with Sam Altman to promote Disney’s $1 billion AI investment and licensing deal with OpenAI, Iger smirked his way through the current battlefield.

“It’s nice to be an observer and not a participant in this,” he said. “In effect, the position that we’re taking is kind of looking at what we did and now looking at what others have determined they must do in order to succeed.”

For someone who engineered the $72 billion Fox acquisition in 2017, that is a loaded reflection. That deal saddled Disney with enormous debt, which then clobbered the company during pandemic shutdowns.

Now, watching Netflix wave around an $83 billion agreement for Warner Bros’ streaming and studio assets while David Ellison’s Paramount counters with a $108 billion hostile bid, Iger is projecting the vibe of someone who learned the hard way that mega deals don’t come with safety nets.

Looking ahead to what regulators may face, he said, “I think if I were a regulator looking at this combination, I’d look at a few things.”

“First of all, I would look at what the impact is on the consumer. You know, will one company end up with pricing leverage that might be considered a negative or damaging to the consumer, and with a significant amount of streaming subscriptions across the world, really does that ultimately give Netflix pricing leverage over the consumer that it might not necessarily be healthy?”

There is plenty of irony here, given the House of Mouse has raised prices on Disney+ multiple times, but the point lands. If Netflix ends up controlling Warner Bros. content and infrastructure, it becomes even easier for them to nudge pricing upwards.

Iger then widened the conversation to the broader creative industry. “Additionally, I’d look at what the impact might be on what I’ll call the creative community, but also on the ecosystem of television and films, particularly motion pictures.

“These movie theaters, which obviously run our films worldwide, operate with relatively thin margins, and they require not only volume, but they require interaction with these films and these movie companies that give them the ability to monetize successfully.

“That’s a very, very important global business. And I think it’s … we’ve been certainly participating in it in a very big way. We’ve got thirty three billion dollars in films in the last 20 years, and you know, we so we’re mindful of protecting the health of that business. It’s very important to what I’ll call the media media ecosystem globally.”

Theaters are barely hanging on and giant mergers can easily crush them without even trying. And yes, Iger is reminding the world how much Disney has bankrolled theatrical releases as he stresses how fragile the system is.

Still, even with all the strategic sermonizing, he avoided picking sides. As Paramount and Netflix circle each other for another wave of bids, with potential intervention from the Trump administration looming, Iger refused to hint which outcome Disney would prefer.

When asked whether he and Disney intend to make arguments to regulators, he played coy. “We haven’t determined whether we’ll, we’ll take a position or not … I was. I was suggesting what regulators should be looking at.”

Pressed further with a question about whether Netflix becomes a more serious competitor if they walk away victorious, Iger folded his arms and shut the door. “No, I’d rather not say anything more than I’ve said.”

Except he already said plenty. And between the carefully worded warnings, the subtle pokes at Netflix’s growing power, and the self aware reflection about Disney’s own empire building, Iger has positioned himself as the wise elder of Hollywood watching the next generation fight over the last big studio prize.