Washington, D.C. — Following news that Netflix is reportedly “actively pursuing” an acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, joining Paramount-Skydance — President Trump’s preferred buyer of the media giant — the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“The bidding war over Warner Bros. Discovery is a distraction from the fact that an acquisition by either Netflix or Paramount-Skydance would deepen a crisis of media concentration that is already driving up prices and eroding freedom of expression,” said Ashley Nowicki, Policy Analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Selling to Netflix would enhance the dominant global streamer’s power and push prices higher, while handing it to Paramount-Skydance — an Ellison-led conglomerate with a stake in CBS — would expand one family’s grip over news and entertainment with the apparent blessing of the White House. Every version of this deal is a combination of money and political power at the expense of workers, creators, and the public, and as the Jimmy Kimmel controversy laid bare last month, a direct threat to democracy. Federal and state enforcers must closely scrutinize any proposed deal.”

Warner Bros. Discovery, valued at roughly $60 billion, had previously planned to divide its business between a streaming-and-studio unit and a separate television-network company. But after months of weak financial performance and investor pressure, it has shifted toward selling the entire firm. Paramount-Skydance has reportedly made several cash offers for the company, while Netflix has retained investment bankers. Any transaction would combine two of the largest players in film, streaming, and news, reducing the number of major studios from five to four and further eroding competition for creative labor. With streaming prices rising sharply and thousands of media workers laid off since 2022, another mega-merger would lead to fewer jobs, higher costs, and a blow to free expression. Major voices in Hollywood, like the Writers Guild of America West and the International Documentary Association, have recently come out against a deal with Paramount specifically.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.