By Jody Godoy
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.
The pressure is mounting on Netflix to find its way through 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.
The letter dated February 24 is part of an onslaught of criticism of the deal by U.S. lawmakers, where otherwise pro-business Republicans have levied harsh criticisms.
But Netflix faces stiffer political headwinds in Washington, D.C., where Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison’s father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, has cultivated a close relationship with President Donald Trump.
David Ellison attended Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night as the guest of Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, Graham posted on social media site X.
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.
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.
While many lawmakers have raised antitrust concerns, some Republicans have also seized on the chance to criticize programming choices of Netflix and Warner Bros as too liberal.
Republicans are not the only ones concerned with the deal, however. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, has previously said the state is taking a close look both at the Netflix deal and Paramount’s competing bid. States have the power to sue to block deals, though the DOJ has the most resources to do so.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul, Chizu Nomiyama and Aurora Ellis)
Comments