Darrell Issa Is Hollywood’s Worst Enemy, Stands Firm Against Netflix-Warner Merger

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Chair of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet, has drawn a clear line in the sand. During a Wednesday hearing, Issa forcefully rejected the notion that Washington should rubber-stamp yet another mega-merger simply because powerful executives and their lobbyists demand it.

Issa, of course, was addressing the proposed $87 billion tie-up between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, which has become the biggest lobbying bonanza in the Beltway. If consummated, the merger would combine the world’s largest streaming company with one of the largest repositories of film and television content in history, creating an unprecedented concentration of power over what Americans watch, pay for, and ultimately hear.

Despite the spending and influence campaign surrounding the deal, Issa would have none of it. He pointed out that since 2011, Netflix has raised prices on consumers roughly ten times, far outpacing inflation. When a witness attempted to brush this off by claiming that “everyone” in streaming is raising prices, Issa sliced and diced the talking point.

Other streaming services, he noted, are losing money. Netflix is not. It is highly profitable, generating billions in annual revenue, and therefore cannot hide behind industry-wide cost pressures. This is not survival pricing; it is market power pricing. And that power would only grow if regulators wave this merger through.

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This merger could lead to a "COMPLETE MONOPOLY" in the entertainment industry, eliminating competition and driving up prices for consumers.

Netflix and many other… pic.twitter.com/PbJkr1RADo

— 🇺🇸 Larry 🇺🇸 (@LarryDJonesJr) January 7, 2026

Issa’s argument strikes at the core of modern antitrust enforcement. Consolidation is often sold to the public as a path to efficiency and innovation, yet time and again it delivers the opposite: fewer competitors, higher prices, and diminished accountability.

The streaming industry is already full of examples. As competition has thinned, subscription costs have climbed, content has been locked behind multiple paywalls, and consumers are being asked to pay more for less, often while being told they should feel lucky to have access at all.

Inevitably, the Netflix–Warner merger will accelerate these trends. By combining the largest catalogs of movies, shows, and franchises such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and DC Comics (Batman and Superman) with Netflix’s unmatched global reach, there is no doubt that the new entity would wield extraordinary power over advertisers, creators, and consumers.

A decade ago, a merger like this would have been an afterthought, with little concern shown in Congress about its impact on consumers. Lobbyists and corporate executives would promise lower prices and great efficiency if a merger were allowed to proceed and most members would’ve accepted their talking points as fact. More than a decade of failed promises now often stands in the way of members’ blind faith in consolidation.

When AT&T merged with Time Warner in 2018, consumers saw their pay-TV and wireless bundle costs increase, as did HBO Max subscription prices.

AT&T promised efficiencies, targeted advertising, and lower prices through bundled services, positioning the combined company to compete with streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon. Yet, the merger is widely regarded as a failure, often called one of the “worst mergers ever” due to cultural clashes, massive debt, and strategic missteps. Contrary to promises, prices rose and hundreds of employees lost their jobs.

When Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged, advocates promised lower prices for consumers. That never happened. Consumers ended up paying more, and venues and artists report being pressured to use Ticketmaster or lose access to Live Nation tours.

In addition to the economic pressures these mergers often create, they also shape culture, public discourse, and the range of viewpoints Americans are exposed to. When control over entertainment and information is concentrated in fewer hands, the costs are borne by everyone else.

Rep. Issa’s message to regulators was unmistakable: consumers cannot be an afterthought, and profitability is not a license to gouge. If Washington is serious about restoring competition and protecting the public, the Netflix–Warner merger is exactly the kind of deal that deserves rigorous, skeptical review rather than a rubber stamp.