Judge halts Paramount's $111B purchase of Warner Bros. in win for US states

RamblingCTO wrote: post #5

bko wrote: post #2

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Are you really comparing youtube with theatre movies? Do you really think a monopoly is going to improve anything for anybody? Who cares? Everyone should care about these things. It's 2026 and you still have to explain that monopolies are bad? Jesus

> Are you really comparing youtube with theatre movies?

Yes I'm comparing youtube to movies. They're direct competitors. My decision on Friday night is often do I go to the movies or do I watch something on YouTube.

> Do you really think a monopoly is going to improve anything for anybody?

They don't have a monopoly on any meaningful product category.

Sometimes companies go out of business because the economics are so bad (e.g. Spirit). I'm not sure if economics are that bad in film industry, but there are benefits of being a certain size or having a larger catalog. Don't people always complain about having to go to many different streaming services to find a movie?

Re: Judge halts Paramount's $111B purchase of Warner Bros. in win for US states

#9

Post by bko » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 9:54 AM UTC

toymin wrote: post #3

bko wrote: post #2

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> Who cares? People who like movies, presumably

What's your mental model for bigger company = worse movies?

Here are a few positives:

Larger movie catalog all under one place, better value bundle due to fewer transaction costs in negotiation. Imagine the extreme where every movie was owned by a different owner. Netflix would not be able to license content effectively.

More risky movies. If a company has more diversified income stream, it can take more risks on new and interesting movies.

More movies. Shared expenses and synergies can produce lower costs and increase supply.

More investment in technology. It makes sense for a larger company to invest more in technology since the business impact and throughput is larger (technology scales).

Less likely to go out of business. Larger and more diversified revenue stream means more long terms security.

Instead of a flippant one sentence snarky response, make the argument or don't comment at all.

Re: Judge halts Paramount's $111B purchase of Warner Bros. in win for US states

#10

Post by mig39 » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 9:56 AM UTC

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