Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) slammed the impending Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition on Friday after news broke that WBD had accepted the streaming giant’s $82.7 billion bid, arguing that the merger would be an “anti-monopoly nightmare.”
“A Netflix-Warner Bros. would create one massive media giant with control of close to half of the streaming market. It could force you into higher prices, fewer choices over what and how you watch, and may put American workers at risk,” the Senator said on X.
“Under Donald Trump, the antitrust review process has also become a cesspool of political favoritism and corruption,” she continued. “The Justice Department must enforce our nation’s anti-monopoly laws fairly and transparently — not use the Warner Bros. deal review to invite influence-peddling and bribery.”
Netflix on Friday announced that it was “highly confident” that it will receive and “running full speed” toward regulatory approval for its acquisition of Warner Bros. streaming and studio assets for $82.7 billion.
“This deal is pro consumer, pro innovation, pro worker, it’s pro creator, it’s pro growth, and our plans here are to work really closely with all the appropriate governments and regulators, but we’re really confident that we’re going to to get all the necessary approvals that we need,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts on Friday. “These two businesses are complementary, and they’re also loved businesses, which is really fantastic.”
Warren previously spoke out against Paramount’s attempt to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, calling it “a trap to set higher prices.”
In a joint letter to the Department of Justice in November, Warren, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) asked the DoJ that any regulatory review be “conducted transparently, independently and in accordance with federal antitrust and anti-corruption laws.”
“Unbiased enforcement of antitrust and telecommunications laws is necessary to promote market growth and economic security for working families,” they wrote. “The DOJ must ensure that review of any potential transaction involving Warner Bros. is grounded in the law, not President Trump’s political favoritism.”
More to come…
