OMI Slams ‘Wholly Inadequate’ Paramount-Warner Bros Settlement
Washington, DC – Dr. Courtney Radsch, director of the Center for Media & Digital Governance at the Open Markets Institute, issued the following statement on the settlement proposal approved by federal Judge Martinez-Olguin, which clears the way for Paramount’s takeover of Warner Brothers Discovery.
"This settlement is only delaying the severely damaging effects of what will be the largest media merger in history: loss of jobs, loss of diversity and plurality in the creative industries, and weaker independent journalism.
"This case demonstrates, once again, that corporate interests can and will continue to further concentrate power in our society, absent strong antitrust enforcers backed by federal and state authorities that stand firm against such interests. Most importantly, it shows that the answer to the woes of other media players with 'competing' against Big Tech are sorely misplaced: it is not through further market consolidation that they'd be better positioned to compete—if that's really the goal—but through enforcing policies that dismantle Big Tech's power over our information flows, and through regulation of the streaming market that fosters a surveillance-free business model, enabling more plural, diverse, and independent news media and entertainement content.
"Despite our disappointment, our team at the Center for Media & Digital Governance, alongside our colleagues in Europe and allies across the globe, is ever more encouraged to continue working towards making that vision a reality. We look forward to engaging with all affected parties by this settlement to inform future design of policies to rebuild our media and digital markets away from this harmful corporate power concentration."