Writers Guild Of America Expresses Concern Of Warner Bros. Discovery Sale
Image Source: Los Angeles Times
The Writers Guild of America raised concerns after Warner Bros. Discovery announced it’s for sale. The union claimed that mergers are disastrous to writers. In an official statement, the WGA East and West said, “Merger after merger in the media industry has harmed workers, diminished competition and free speech, and wasted hundreds of billions of dollars better invested in organic growth.” The statement continued, “Combining Warner Bros. with Paramount or another major studio or streamer would be a disaster for writers, for consumers, and for competition. The WGAW and WGAE will work with regulators to block the merger.”
The WGA has a long history of objecting to mergers starting back in 2002, when it came out against the Dish-Direct TV merger that ultimately failed. In 2011, the union opposed a merger between Comcast and NBCUniversal and warned against the consolidated media landscape and the potential for Comcast to misuse its cable control to promote its content above competitors. Back in 2016, when Time Warner was merging with AT&T, the WGA East said, “At a time when the country demands, and needs, the broadest possible set of views and stories and voices, we have handed over the keys to the media kingdom to giants whose sole motivation is to maximize their short-term investment return, not to inform or enlighten or entertain.”
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In 2022, it called the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery a “clear disaster for the content creators who have lost jobs and a potential employer, as well as for consumers who are faced with a poorer, less-diverse content landscape.” Finally, in 2023, the WGA warned that Disney, Netflix, and Amazon were in position to become gatekeepers of the industry. For its part, Warner Bros. has received several unsolicited offers from multiple parties but has not publicly accepted an offer yet.
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Source(s): Variety, The Hollywood Reporter
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