More than a dozen UK politicians and former policymakers have urged the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to carry out a full competition review of Netflix’s proposed $83 billion (€76.4bn) bid for Warner Bros Discovery, according to the Financial Times.
The FT reports that the group has written to CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell warning that the deal “will cement an already dominant player” in the TV streaming market. In the letter, the signatories argue that the acquisition could lead “to a substantial lessening of competition with damaging consequences for consumers”.
Among those who signed the letter are three former UK secretaries of state for culture, media and sport – Chris Smith, Oliver Dowden and Karen Bradley – alongside Tony Hall, the former director-general of the BBC. Other signatories named by the FT include Guy Black, chair of the News Media Association and deputy chair of Telegraph Media Group, and Tina Stowell, former leader of the House of Lords.
According to the report, the politicians are calling on the CMA to move beyond any initial assessment and open an in-depth investigation into the potential impact of the deal on competition, plurality and consumer choice in the UK media market.
The proposed takeover has already attracted political and regulatory scrutiny elsewhere. In the United States, some members of Congress have described the transaction as an antitrust “nightmare” for consumers and creatives.
Separately, Bloomberg reported last week that EU competition authorities are expected to scrutinise rival bids by Netflix and Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros Discovery at the same time, setting up an unusual parallel review process in Europe.
