Barry Diller says studios should cut Netflix from strike talks

Barry Diller is looking on the legacy Hollywood studios to finish the twin writers and actors strikes, in any other case it’s going to be “catastrophic” to the trade.

The media mogul, talking on the podcast “On with Kara Swisher,” stated the strikes would solely strengthen streaming big Netflix throughout a tumultuous time for legacy media.

“The strike does one factor, and one factor solely, it strengthens Netflix and weakens the others,” stated Diller, the chairman of IAC and Expedia, who as soon as held high roles at Fox, Paramount and ABC Entertainment.

He additionally suggested studios to cut Netflix and different streamers out of the negoations with the unions.

“They should actually get out of the room with their deepest, fiercest and virtually conclusive enemy, Netflix, and doubtless Apple and Amazon,” he stated, noting their totally different enterprise fashions. He stated the legacy studios, actors and writers should be “pure allies” given their century of working collectively.

The remarks echo comments Diller made earlier this summer time on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” wherein he stated the strikes might trigger a domino impact that might produce “an absolute collapse of a whole trade.”

Writers Guild of America members have been putting for greater than 100 days, whereas the actors’ union joined the picket traces in July, halting manufacturing of TV exhibits and flicks.

In current weeks, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has gone public with its newest contract proposal to the writers. It was shortly obvious talks between the studios and writers stay heated.

“There was a really current try and get it on observe with the WGA, which I collect collapsed within the final couple of days,” Diller stated on Swisher’s podcast, which was recorded in late August. He added it “seems bleak” that the strike might finish by September.

Representatives for SAG, WGA, AMPTP and Netflix did not instantly reply to a request for remark.

Recent discussions with the writers union included a sit down with high media brass together with Disney CEO Bob Iger, NBCUniversal movie head Donna Langley, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

In current earnings calls, Netflix and its media friends have stated they hoped to return to a decision shortly with the writers and actors.

Diller stated for the “previous majors” like Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Paramount Global, if the strikes final by means of the top of the 12 months the shortage of recent content material by the spring or summer time of 2024 on their streaming providers will result in subscriber cancellations and income losses.

“When they should gear as much as make extra programming to get again subscribers, they will not have the income base to have the ability to produce,” Diller instructed Swisher. “So that’s kinda catastrophic.”

He goes on to name Netflix “an evil genius” that was capable of dominate and depart legacy media scrambling to notch earnings on their streaming companies.

While making streaming a worthwhile enterprise has been an ongoing focus for media firms, Diller stated these firms should shift again to specializing in their broadcast and pay-TV networks. While cord-cutting of conventional pay-TV bundles continues to speed up, the enterprise nonetheless stays worthwhile.

Diller stated legacy media should take a few of its “exhibits and creativity and construct our networks again up. It’s there for the take.”

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the guardian firm of CNBC. NBCUniversal is a member of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.