When looking ahead to 2026, it’s tempting to go out on a limb and predict some outlandish mega-merger, like the acquisition of Disney by Apple, or a sale of Fox to Google. After all, the story that we did select as most likely to be the biggest of 2026 would have seemed like an equally unlikely outcome if it had been predicted at this time in 2024.

I speak, of course, of the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s TV and movie studios, as well as its streaming assets, by Netflix in a blockbuster deal. As announced in early December, WBD has accepted an $82.7 billion deal for those portions of its company, picking Netflix over competing offers from Paramount Skydance, and Comcast.

The deal will be the biggest streaming story of 2026, no matter which direction it ultimately goes. While a hostile takeover attempt of WBD is underway by Paramount, it seems to be trending toward failure. The only thing that could stop Netflix from acquiring WBD after that is government regulators, who could indeed pose a problem for the transaction.

Reports indicate the Trump Administration has already begun assembling an antitrust case against Netflix’s acquisition of HBO Max and any other streaming assets included in the deal. President Trump was personally upset by Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings’ support of Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, and if that motivation leads the administration to try to hold up the merger, it would rightly create a huge story regarding the proper role of the executive branch in business transactions of this size.

On the other hand, a visit between Trump and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos may have helped calm the waters from a regulatory perspective. And if indeed Netflix does consummate its deal with WBD, it would create a streaming service that would see few rivals from a standpoint of intellectual property owned. Netflix would immediately become the owner of the DC universe, The Lord of the Rings, Dune, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and a staggering collection of other huge franchises.

While the new Netflix would not wield unlimited power in the marketplace, its presence would overshadow all but the biggest competitors, such as Disney, Google, and Amazon. Such a merger would likely trigger a host of smaller moves across the streaming world, as smaller services do their best to either go on alone or prove to one of the big players that they are worthy of a juicy acquisition deal.

There will no doubt be plenty of other huge stories from the streaming world in 2026. But for our money, the merger of WBD and Netflix will be the biggest of the year.