Four big unions, including the Service Employees International Union and the Teamsters, urged the US Federal Trade Commission on Monday to oppose Amazon.com’s plan to buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, reported Reuters.
Amazon announced the $8.45 billion deal in May, saying the purchase of the fabled US movie studio, home to the James Bond franchise, would give it a library of films and TV shows to compete with rivals like Netflix and Disney+.
Related: Amazon’s $6.4B MGM Acquisition Probed By FTC
The unions, in a report by an entity they support called the Strategic Organizing Center, argued that the deal would bring Amazon’s industry-leading streaming library to more than 55,000 titles, with more under development, which would give the company greater incentive to discriminate against rivals. Netflix has the second-greatest number of titles at just under 20,000, the letter said.
“The prospect of Amazon acquiring a trove of additional MGM content to build on Amazon’s existing vast library should raise alarm bells,” the group said. “With control over MGM’s vast library, Amazon may acquire enough market power over streaming content to raise prices for (streaming video-on-demand) SVOD competitors or for SVOD consumers.”
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