Antitrust concerns: Warner Bros. Discovery directors leave board
- Competing companies had designees on both boards
- 'Today’s announcement is a win for consumers': Justice
- Government feared less competition in service, pricing
(NewsNation) —Two directors of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc resigned from the the company’s board following antitrust concerns, according to the United States Department of Justice.
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division expressed concerns that the directors’ positions on both the WBD and Charter Communications Inc. boards violated the Clayton Act by serving simultaneously on competing boards, according to a news release.
Charter and WBD each provide video distribution services. Representatives of the privately held media company Advance Publications Inc. had designees on both Charger’s and WBD’s boards of directors.
“Today’s announcement is a win for consumers,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Kades of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “In enacting Section 8 of the Clayton Act, Congress was concerned that competitors who shared directors would compete less vigorously to provide better services and lower prices.”
The division’s efforts to date have unwound or prevented conflicts involving at least two dozen companies, according to the release.