FIRST IN PI — FORMER STATE AGS OPPOSE NETFLIX-WBD MERGER: Nearly a dozen former state attorneys general from both sides of the aisle are warning antitrust regulators to approach Netflix’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery with heavy skepticism, calling on DOJ to “use every available antitrust tool should this transaction proceed.”
— “We know from our former roles as state attorneys general that even before the effects of such consolidation reverberate across the country, markets can be driven off kilter by large-scale consolidation,” the state AGs wrote in a letter being sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi and DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater tonight. “Once competition is lost, it is rarely restored,” they argued.
— The letter’s signatories include Republicans Charlie Condon of South Carolina, Sean Reyes of Utah, Dennis Vacco of New York andCurtis Hill of Indiana as well as Democrats Michael Lilly of Hawaii,Oliver Koppell of New York, Drew Ketterer of Maine, Jack Conwayof Kentucky. Former Virginia GOP Govs. Bob McDonnell and Jim Gilmore also signed the letter, which comes a day after the proposed Netflix-WBD union faced a bipartisan grilling before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.
