Feb 25 (Reuters) – Republican attorneys general from 11 U.S. states have urged the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a thorough review of Netflix’s bid to acquire studio and streaming assets from Warner Bros., saying the deal threatens U.S. dominance in movies, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
The pressure is mounting on Netflix to find its way though regulatory hurdles and make a better offer after Warner Bros Discovery opened the door to consider Paramount Skydance’s increased bid of $31 per share.
Nebraska and Montana led the group of states urging the DOJ to scrutinize how the deal would affect customers of streaming services, as well as the market for theatrical movie releases.
The deal “will likely result in undue market concentration that stifles competition and therefore creates higher prices, lower reliability, and less innovation for one of America’s major industries—all to the detriment of American consumers,” they wrote.
Netflix assuming control of Warner Bros. vast content library and absorbing rival streaming service HBO Max could diminish competition among subscription video platforms, they said. They also cited opposition from movie theater industry groups concerned that the Netflix deal would decrease the number of theatrical releases.
State attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Iowa, North Dakota, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Utah joined the letter.
California’s attorney general has previously said the state is taking a close look both at the Netflix deal and Paramount’s competing bid.
A spokesperson for Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has said the deal would benefit consumers and workers and that it would continue to release movies to theaters.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy, Editing by Franklin Paul and Chizu Nomiyama )
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