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LAshton 🌱
@leoashton.bsky.social
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Bunny companion, animal liberation, human rights, artist on west coast. Wine & tech industry escapee. He/him #Brandalism leoashton.net
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ddayen.bsky.social
Just because it's not the Ellisons doesn't mean it's benign. The consolidation of Hollywood is the problem.
State AGs need to block this and signal they'll block a Paramount-WBD merger as anticompetitive too.
prospect.org/2025/12/05/n...
The only part of the rationale Netflix gives for this merger that rings true is “More value for shareholders.” Fewer streaming options, or a streaming landscape where two of the three largest outlets have the same corporate parent, likely means a continuation of the price hikes that we’re already seeing. Meanwhile, fewer bidders will likely put downward pressure on contracts and rates. So Hollywood talent will be paid less and customers will pay more. That feels pretty anti-competitive, and should draw a merger challenge. Netflix is likely going to follow the claims that Meta made in dodging a monopolization challenge: that it competes with a multitude of other claims on people’s time, from YouTube to social media. But this is ridiculous; the logical end point of that claim is that Netflix isn’t a monopoly because people can always shut their eyes and sleep. There’s clearly a market in paying a company a monthly fee to watch produced entertainment, and Netflix is consolidating it.
December 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM