John,
A takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Netflix would fuse vast swaths of America’s news and entertainment infrastructure into a single corporate structure. Netflix’s global streaming platform would absorb Warner Bros. Discovery’s portfolio in one stroke.
HBO and Max, CNN, Warner Bros. blockbuster movies, television drama, comedy, children’s programming, reality shows, all Discovery’s nonfiction networks, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and DC entertainment, and more, would all be governed by the same executive priorities -- collapsing formerly separate spheres of editorial, creative, and commercial production and distribution into a single integrated, algorithmically driven, streaming empire.
This is not just a horizontal merger between competitors; it’s a game-changing vertical consolidation: combining in one company two or more stages of production usually operated by separate companies. Netflix already has distribution, data, and subscribers at a global scale. Folding Warner Bros. Discovery into that system would give the company dominance across all stages of media creation and distribution: content creation, editorial decision-making, algorithmic promotion and delivery to audiences.
The distinction between news and entertainment would erode further as both are filtered through the same growth metrics, risk calculations, and brand identities. In such a structure, journalism competes internally with entertainment and reality programs for resources and visibility, while algorithmic incentives shape what stories rise and which are buried -- bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase “Netflix and chill.”
Tell the Department of Justice to block the Warner Bros. mega-merger, protect consumers, protect workers, and defend democracy from a corporate takeover of American media.
If allowed to proceed, a huge swath of America’s media landscape would be reshaped under a single unified corporation, narrowing the range of voices and stories that reach the public. What once emerged from a competitive ecosystem of studios, networks, and newsrooms would instead be decided inside one management hierarchy optimized for scale and profit.
Lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have warned that mergers of this magnitude crush competition and concentrate power in the hands of a few executives and shareholders. Cultural diversity would be flattened, editorial independence weakened, and dissenting reporting more vulnerable to internal pressure.
This is not mere speculation. HBO Max subscribers have already filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that consolidation degrades service and reduces choice. Even MAGA politicians -- including Donald Trump himself -- have acknowledged the antitrust dangers of concentrating media power at this scale.
Regulators still have the authority to stop a deal that would entrench both vertical and horizontal dominance over American media -- and with it, the power to suppress content that powerful stakeholders find inconvenient.
Tell the Department of Justice to block this mega-merger and defend the diversity, independence, and vitality of American culture.
Thank you for protecting America’s marketplace of ideas.
– DFA Team
