Paramount's bid to buy Warner Brothers faces potential DOJ investigation

Watch Paramount's bid to buy Warner Brothers faces potential DOJ investigation - Straight Arrow News on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Well, Hollywood loves a sequel, but this one's less Fast and Furious and more Monopoly and

00:04mergers. Paramount Skydance is reportedly prepping a $50 billion all-cash bid to buy

00:09Warner Brothers Discovery. Yes, that's right, the studio behind DC, Harry Potter, HBO, and CNN.

00:15The news sent Warner Brothers stocks soaring nearly 29% in a day, with another 16% bump after.

00:21But before the champagne pops, the Department of Justice is likely to crash the party. Legal

00:25experts expect an antitrust investigation, since combining two media giants could reduce

00:30content diversity, inflate prices, and give the new entity massive leverage over creators and

00:35distributors. I mean, imagine trying to negotiate with a company that owns half of pop culture.

00:40The DOJ has already increased scrutiny of vertical and horizontal consolidation in media, like earlier

00:46this year when Disney tried to take over FuboTV. And this deal already checks all the boxes for a

00:51regulatory deep dive. People who support the merger think it could make a streaming service that's

00:55big enough to compete with Netflix and Disney, and give viewers more shows and movies in one place.

01:00However, critics are not buying the hype, pointing to headlines from just two weeks ago about Paramount

01:04forcing a back-to-office mandate, and mass layoffs planned for November. So, is this the birth of a

01:09new entertainment titan, or a blockbuster destined for some DOJ rewrites? Let us know in the comments,

01:14and of course, follow us here for more.