The Writers Guild of America has come out strongly against a merger between Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) and any other studio, declaring any such consolidation would be a “disaster” for writers.

The body’s statement comes two days after WBD admitted it was considering putting the entire company up for sale. WBD said it had initiated “a review of strategic alternatives to maximise shareholder value, in light of unsolicited interest the company has received from multiple parties for both the entire company and Warner Bros”.

The company could potentially split up Warner Bros and Discovery, and sell off Discovery while merging Warner Bros with another company WBD.

Any deal involving another content producer would shrink the number of buyers in the marketplace.

“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,” asserted the WGA East and West. “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 opposed similar industry mergers, such as the failed DISH-DirecTV merger in 2002 and in 2011, the merger of Comcast and NBCUniversal. The union also opposed the Disney-Fox merger in 2017.

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Tags: warner bros discovery, WBD, Writer’s Guild of America