A key Republican senator Friday joined the mounting opposition in Washington to Netflix’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Sen. Tim Scott (R, S.C), chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a close White House ally, said the deal raises “significant antitrust problems” and could hurt “moviegoers, on-camera talent, writers, producers, and everyone who loves the entertainment industry.”
In a letter to the Trump administration’s antitrust regulators, Scott said the $83 billion merger risks hurting consumers by entrenching Netflix, which “seems to have the power to increase prices regularly,” as the dominant streaming app. It would also leave Hollywood showrunners with fewer buyers and “create a crisis for brick-and-mortar movie theatres,” Scott wrote. That echoes concerns by Hollywood groups including the screenwriters’ guild and TV unions.
“The transaction warrants rigorous antitrust review under all applicable antitrust merger and monopolization laws and, to the extent appropriate, a lawsuit to block it,” Scott wrote in the letter, which was sent to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission and reviewed by Semafor.
