Antitrust concerns in Netflix proposed Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition

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(The Center Square) - A bipartisan group of lawmakers grilled leaders of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery Tuesday about antitrust concerns over their planned merger .

Netflix seeks to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery for nearly $83 billion, merging their resources and streaming services. Critics say the proposed merger would reduce competition, raise consumer prices, and hurt movie theaters. Netflix is already the largest global streaming platform. 

“One might say that Netflix seeks to become the one platform to rule them all, or at least exercise a significant amount of market dominance,” U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah said at Tuesday's hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Antitrust subcommittee. 

In a bit of a twist, one of those in attendance appeared to be dressed as Mr. Monopoly, the mustachioed, top hat-wearing character from the game Monopoly.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix Co-CEO, claimed the merger would create more jobs, would lower costs of both streaming services, and provide more accessibility for consumers to view preferred content.

“This media merger will be different than any of the others, because we actually need these people. We need those movies, we need those series. So we're going to keep them all operating, and I want them to compete with one another, just as if we didn't own them,” Sarandos said. 

A bipartisan group of Judiciary senators present at the hearing were not reassured. Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, raised concerns over Netflix potentially getting more power over consumers and leaving fewer alternatives for streaming platforms.

“Our antitrust laws are designed to ensure that independent studios, smaller streaming services and new entrants are not shut out and left unable to compete with companies that control both content and distribution,” Booker said. 

Many of the Republican senators questioned the liberal ideology portrayed in much of Netflix’s current content, even as Sarandos insisted that Netflix is not political. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo was one of many Republicans who confronted Sarandos about the liberal-leaning actions of Netflix employees and content produced.

“Why in the world would we give a seal of approval or a thumbs up to make you the largest behemoth on the planet related to content? It seems as though you have engaged in creating not only a monopoly of content potentially, but the wokest content in the history of the world,” Schmitt said. 

Sarandos said parents could restrict unwanted content on the service in an attempt to reassure conservatives. 

“We have state‑of‑the‑art tools for you to manage those choices for your children and to block any title that you might be offended by for any reason,” Sarandos said. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked Sarandos about entertainment versus propaganda being pushed by Netflix, to which Sarandos again insisted Netflix had no political agenda.

“We would fail pushing a political view or propaganda. We deliver entertainment to consumers,” Sarandos said. “And if we fail to entertain them, by trying to promote propaganda or something, anything other than entertainment, we fail.”