Lawmakers are petitioning the Department of Justice to launch an investigation of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, alleging it harmed workers and reduced consumer choices. Warner Bros. merged with Discovery Inc in early 2022 to create Warner Bros. Discovery. The merger caused significant changes, including David Zaslav taking over as CEO of the company, James Gunn and Peter Safran being named the co-CEOs of the DC studios division, and HBO Max and Discovery+ being combined.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s market share has enabled it to harm workers and heighten barriers to entry in the media and entertainment industry. Protecting competition for workers and consumers is the essence of antitrust law. As Assistant Attorney General Kanter recently noted, 'antitrust laws apply to transactions that harm content creators and workers.' We are concerned that the WarnerMedia/Discovery merger has proven to be such a transaction.