The ongoing battle between Netflix and Paramount in their quests to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery escalated this week when the streaming giant’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos visited the White House while nearly a dozen Republican state attorney generals warned against Netflix securing the studio.
The letter written by 11 Republican state attorney generals addressed to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi warned that a Netflix takeover could lead to market concentration.
“We, the undersigned Attorneys General, write to express our concerns that the proposed merger between Netflix and Warner Brothers will likely result in undue market concentration that stifles competition and therefore creates higher prices, lower reliability, and less innovation for one of America’s major industries — all to the detriment of American consumers,” the letter read.
“Given the stakes, we encourage the Department of Justice to subject this proposed merger to a thorough and exacting review under the Clayton Act,” it added.
The letter comes just days after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would be launching an antitrust probe into the streaming giant’s purchase of Warner Bros.
“This massive consolidation would place an unprecedented amount of content, distribution power, and market influence into the hands of a single corporation,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in a press release. “History shows us what happens when industries become dominated by a few giants: prices rise, choices shrink, and innovation suffers.”
Knudsen was joined by attorney generals from Alabama, Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia, per Deadline.
Ted Sarandos has continued to insist that Netflix purchasing Warner Bros. will create jobs and will not stifle competition. He also headed to the White House this week to meet with President Trump.
“The streamer co-CEO will sit down Thursday with ‘several administration officials,’” Deadline reported on Wednesday. “White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is among those Sarandos will be talking to.”
“When it comes to a chat tomorrow between POTUS and the exec, ‘don’t bet against it, Ted knows where power rests,’ an insider said of the Executive Mansion visit. ‘That’s why he’s going to the White House and not (the Department of) Justice,’” it added.
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