Lawmakers Want Justice Department To Investigate Warner Bros. Discovery, Claiming Merger Harmed Workers And Reduced Content Choice

deadline.com:

Four Democratic lawmakers want the Justice Department to investigate Warner Bros. Discovery, claiming that the merged company has harmed workers and reduced consumer choice.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-CA), Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DOJ antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter that the merger “appears to have enabled” the company to “adopt potentially anticompetitive practices that reduce consumer choice and harm workers in affected labor markets.” Warner Media and Discovery were combined last year in a transaction that was not challenged by the DOJ after a review. “The company has the incentive and ability to eliminate broad swaths of its workforce, leaving workers with fewer choices for employment and advancement,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. (Read it here).

They cited the layoffs over the past year, including the shutdown of CNN+, as well as later cuts at CNN and in areas like ad sales.

It would be unusual for the Justice Department to essentially reopen a review of a merger so shortly after it has been completed, but the lawmakers appear to have been bolstered by Kanter’s comments on the DOJ’s concerns over the impact of consolidation on content creators and workers, not just on consumers.