from the here-comes-some-more-bullshit dept
Final election season you may recall that the Trump administration lied repeatedly and pretended to be actually excited by reining in company energy and shoring up antitrust reform. And whereas this line was propped up by a variety of helpful idiots (like Matt Stoller) who insisted there was widespread trigger to be made with fascists, the entire thing was bullshit, designed to cowl up widespread corruption and generational injury to regulatory independence and U.S. company oversight.
Regardless of having adopted up on none of their antitrust reform guarantees, Trumpland is again once more pretending it’s an essential coverage enviornment for them. This time by leveraging a faux curiosity in antitrust reform to start out seeding the concept that Netflix shouldn’t be allowed to purchase Warner Brothers. Who, coincidentally, is fielding a rival bid from Trump’s billionaire proper wing pal, Larry Ellison.
“Anyone” leaked phrase to Republican ally Charles Gasparino on the New York Submit, who dutifully presents the concept that the Trump administration really cares about company consolidation as if it’s a severe factor:
“Senior White Home officers lately mentioned antitrust considerations surrounding Netflix’s curiosity in buying the Warner Bros. studio and the HBO Max streaming service – elevating doubts whether or not such a deal would give Netflix an excessive amount of energy over Hollywood, The Submit has realized.
The high-level assembly that passed off about 10 days in the past hasn’t been beforehand reported. A number of White Home officers additionally steered in the course of the sitdown {that a} broader investigation is critical specializing in Netflix’s market energy, a authorities official who attended the confab stated.”
It’s not clear if the administration, Comcast, or Paramount insiders leaked phrase to Chuck, however it ought to be reiterated that the Trump administration clearly doesn’t really care about unchecked “market energy.” With one hand, this administration has taken a hatchet to all significant regulatory oversight of company energy, setting again labor rights, shopper safety, and public security generationally, whereas with its different hand, it’s dismantling what stays of U.S. media consolidation limits.
Most media protection of those rival bids received’t have the spine to make it clear that whereas Netflix possession of Warner Brothers would most actually most likely be dangerous for the market, the Trump administration doesn’t really care about that. It cares about serving to billionaire allies and punishing “woke” corporations that platform too many minorities and homosexual individuals for his or her liking.
Netflix possession of HBO possible wouldn’t be good for the model, however it’s not like Warner Brothers Discovery or AT&T have been good for the model (or market well being) both. David Zaslav has been infamous for mismanaging the house of CNN and HBO. And Netflix, because the New York Occasions famous final September, is probably the least overtly compromised of the three corporations in the case of kissing MAGA ass (which isn’t saying a lot, and positively isn’t assured to final).
On this case, the choices listed below are all dangerous. The opposite bidders for Warner Brothers, HBO, and CNN embody Comcast (NBC Common) and Larry Ellison (CBS). Neither could be good stewards of the HBO model, clearly don’t give a lot of a shit about wholesome market competitors, and have proven they’re greater than keen to throw any remaining ideas within the trash to curry favor with the administration.
The very best and proper play for a authorities that truly cared about antitrust reform, shopper safety, and wholesome markets could be no further consolidation in any respect. However good religion media reform just isn’t, and has by no means been, what the Trump administration is after.
Filed Below: antitrust, antitrust reform, charles gasparino, competitors, consolidation, company energy, donald trump, larry ellison, media, mergers
Firms: hbo, netflix, paramount, warner bros. discovery
