What Netflix isn't saying about the HBO purchase

This column often focuses on how the media expresses itself and how it's often necessary to read between the lines to understand their true meaning. But corporate communication is also rife with these euphemisms and verbal traps, and a good example of this is the email that Netflix's more than 300 million users received. The text poses the rhetorical question of what will change, and the answer is "for now, there will be no changes." The key is this "for now," which means that, of course, everything will be overhauled, but now is not the time to explain it (partly because the process is pending regulatory approvals and could take a year and a half). But it would be absurd to think that Netflix would undertake an acquisition like this—the first of its kind in its history—without considering how to optimize the management of two services that together account for some 450 million subscriptions.

The official communication about the acquisition also revealed a great deal without saying anything. When co-CEO Greg Peters spoke about how the Warner Bros. acquisition would "accelerate Netflix's business for decades to come," the implication is that the exclusive theatrical release window for films will be significantly shortened. Netflix considers it a distortion that the bulk of a film's promotion is focused on its theatrical release instead of how most people will ultimately watch it: on their mobile phones or on their living rooms, which is their business. And, above all, what the communication fails to mention is that the deal has begun to falter. The email they sent was precisely to make it seem like everything is settled and secure: once again, it's a gesture to suggest the opposite of what has transpired in recent hours. This battle between giants would be worthy of a series, which, for obvious reasons, Netflix will not be filming.