Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall sent a Monday letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sounding the alarm on what he called “significant” concerns over Netflix reportedly weighing a bid to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount, Comcast and Netflix are all gearing up to bid on Warner Bros. Discovery, The Wall Street Journal first reported on Nov. 13, citing anonymous sources. Marshall wrote Monday in his letter to the DOJ and the FTC that “such a transaction would constitute a major vertical and horizontal consolidation in a sector that is already marked by limited competition.”
“If Netflix reached a deal to acquire Warner Bros., it would raise significant antitrust questions that warrant especially rigorous review,” Marshall wrote in the letter.
“As the market currently stands, Netflix holds a dominant position in the global streaming marketplace — boasting more than 300 million subscribers and exercising substantial control over both distribution and content,” Marshall continued. “Acquiring HBO Max and Warner Bros.’ extensive library of premium programming would further expand this dominance across multiple markets.”
The DOJ, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. An FTC spokesperson confirmed to the DCNF that the agency had received Marshall’s letter but had no additional comment.
Marshall also wrote in his letter that the DOJ and FTC must both “act decisively” to help block “anticompetitive consolidation in this vital sector.”
“Given the outsized influence that the entertainment and media industries exert on competition, culture, and employment, I urge you to act decisively to prevent anticompetitive consolidation in this vital sector,” the GOP senator wrote.
Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings has notably been a Democratic megadonor for years. Hastings doled out $2 million in an attempt to boost Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ultimately successful gerrymandering efforts, Politico reported in August.
“Simply put, a deal of this scale risks diminishing competitive pressure, enabling Netflix to raise prices, restrict output, and reduce the variety of content available to consumers,” Marshall wrote in the letter. “The likely result would be fewer films produced, curtailed theatrical windows, and reduced investment in large-scale productions.”
One anonymous senior Trump administration official told the New York Post in October that whoever owns Warner Bros. Discovery is “very important to the administration.”
“The Warner board needs to think very seriously not just on the price competition but which player in the suitor pool has been successful getting a deal done,” the senior administration official told the Post.
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