Concerns for Hollywood Megadeals Emerge Amid Justice Dept. Posturing

After decades of lenient enforcement, federal antitrust enforcers under the Biden administration are signaling they will increasingly challenge mergers as part of an effort to address the consolidation of various industries by a handful of companies. Proposed mergers between Hollywood conglomerates, studios and major talent firms that have yet to be approved may fit the bill. But whether the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission will be able to stop deals like Amazon’s $8.45 billion bid to acquire MGM or AT&T’s proposed megamerger between WarnerMedia and Discovery remains to be seen. On Jan. 18, the Justice Department and FTC launched a joint public inquiry aimed at strengthening enforcement against illegal mergers in a move that signaled stricter oversight of dominant companies. “Illegal mergers can inflict a host of harms, from higher prices and lower wages to diminished opportunity, reduced innovation, and less resiliency,” stated FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “This inquiry launched by the FTC and DOJ is designed to ensure that our merger guidelines accurately reflect modern market realities and equip us to forcefully enforce the law against unlawful deals.” And, on Jan. 26, Jonathan Kanter, assistant attorney general for antitrust, followed up by announcing that federal antitrust regulators…
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