It's a strong, traditional lawsuit. If you merge 2 of the biggest 5 studios, they'll feel less pressure to make new movies. If you merge a company that owns an alphabet soup of channels with another company that owns an alphabet soup of channels, people will pay for that on their cable bill.

In fortuitous timing, I'm excited to share an extensive new report from MACRO Lab and 23 media scholars from across North America, titled "The Costs of Consolidation: Arguments and Evidence for Blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger" macrolab.ucsd.edu/paramount-warner-merger

The Hollywood Reporter@thr.com · 3w ago

A coalition of state attorneys general have sued Paramount to stop its $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, a sweeping legal challenge to a merger that threatens to reshape Hollywood amid the absence of the Trump administration’s intervention in big deals. bit.ly/4wJqybG

Thank you @adewaard.bsky.social & Shawna Kidman for your leadership of this important report on the economic, cultural, & civic costs of this merger. I joined them to write the devastating section on how this merger would distort & lower the quality of the news relied upon by millions of Americans.

Andrew deWaard@adewaard.bsky.social · 4w ago

At MACRO Lab, we have an extensive new report: "The Costs of Consolidation: Arguments and Evidence for Blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger." We argue that the combined company will struggle to serve consumers or act in the public interest: macrolab.ucsd.edu/paramount-warner-merger

Glad this court case is moving forward. At MACRO Lab, we recently published a report on why: "The Costs of Consolidation: Arguments and Evidence for Blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger." Read it here macrolab.ucsd.edu/paramount-warner-merger/

Los Angeles Times@latimes.com · 3w ago

States sue to block Paramount's $111-billion Warner Bros. takeover

At MACRO Lab, we have an extensive new report: "The Costs of Consolidation: Arguments and Evidence for Blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger." We argue that the combined company will struggle to serve consumers or act in the public interest: macrolab.ucsd.edu/paramount-warner-merger

spoke with @wired.com about the A24, Google, DeepMind deal:

WIRED@wired.com · last mo.

Indie movie fans are upset about Google DeepMind's $75 million investment in the studio, which comes as AI companies are deepening their influence in Hollywood. www.wired.com/story/a24-kn...

I have a new feature essay at MUBI Notebook on the Paramount-WB merger. It goes long on our billionaire-dominated media monopoly, the Ellison empire, the effects of the merger, and most importantly, HOW it can be blocked and how we can take back our cultural system. mubi.com/en/notebook/...

Consolidation Crisis: What Paramount Skydance's Purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery Means, and How to Stop it

A new dark age of Hollywood is coming. What can we do about it?

mubi.com

I have a new feature essay at MUBI Notebook on the Paramount-WB merger. It goes long on our billionaire-dominated media monopoly, the Ellison empire, the effects of the merger, and most importantly, HOW it can be blocked and how we can take back our cultural system. mubi.com/en/notebook/...

Consolidation Crisis: What Paramount Skydance's Purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery Means, and How to Stop it

A new dark age of Hollywood is coming. What can we do about it?

mubi.com

I'm truly honoured for Derivative Media to receive the Best Book Award from the Media Industries Scholarly Interest Group (@misig-scms.bsky.social) at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (@scmstudies.bsky.social). My thanks to the committee for this award and this generous citation!

Feature: Why is Los Angeles’s entertainment industry in such crisis? Andrew deWaard on the shape-shifting effects of financialization and monopoly. Read on. Link in comments.

Paramount's take over of Warner Bros. Discovery is bad news for several reasons. It runs roughshod over the DOJ/FTC Merger Guidelines with respect to streaming, film and pay tv markets. 1/ www.bbc.com/news/article...

Netflix drops Warner Bros bid, clearing way for Paramount takeover

Netflix's decision to back down from the bidding war clears the path for Paramount to win the takeover battle.

bbc.com

I spoke with Barron’s for this article on a not-at-all-alarming development: www.barrons.com/articles/pri...

The New Private-Equity Billionaires Who Are Taking Over Wall Street

Private-market institutions are taking over from old-line legacy banks. The names to watch—and the dangers to watch out for.

barrons.com

Thank you, Peter, for this engaging review. Much obliged. 🙏

Peter Labuza@labuzamovies.com · 8mo ago

For Media Industries Journal, I reviewed @adewaard.bsky.social's DERIVATIVE MEDIA, a critical text in how to think about the relationship between private equity and the making of film, television, and music. journals.publishing.umich.edu/mij/article/...

chatted with danny and derek for the @amprestigepod.bsky.social podcast about Netflix and Warner Brothers and the slow decline of Hollywood and Anaconda for some reason?

American Prestige@amprestigepod.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Bonus - The Life and Death of Hollywood w/ @adewaard.bsky.social Andrew deWaard is back on the show, this time to talk about the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and its implications. Link in the replies!

grateful for this thoughtful & wide-ranging piece by Rob Arcand on the state of the financialized culture industry & what criticism of it is for, that puts Mood Machine in conversation with Andrew deWaard’s Derivative Media @nplusonemag.com www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

The Same Stream Twice | Rob Arcand

Two recent books, Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine and Andrew deWaard’s Derivative Media, explore the consequences of these technological intermediaries for the music, film, and television industries. While P...

nplusonemag.com

what would it take to reframe debates about streaming and cultural decline in marxist terms? for @nplusonemag.com i tried to think through the current crisis (AI! VC! A24!) and what a newly militant labor movement could mean for the culture industries www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

The Same Stream Twice | Rob Arcand

Two recent books, Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine and Andrew deWaard’s Derivative Media, explore the consequences of these technological intermediaries for the music, film, and television industries. While P...

nplusonemag.com

thanks to @nplusonemag.com and @robarcand.bsky.social for this excellent essay on my book, as well as Mood Machine by @lizpelly.bsky.social, a book I absolutely love

n+1@nplusonemag.com · 9mo ago

“The history of the music industry is a history of conglomeration.” New: Rob Arcand on Liz Pelly’s MOOD MACHINE and Andrew DeWaard’s DERIVATIVE MEDIA. www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

"This is the “Hungarian model” on speed.Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s authoritarian leader, spent a decade asserting increasing control over that nation’s media. The Trump administration is poised to accomplish the same in less than a year – and at greater scale." theconversation.com/a-paramount-...

A Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger could give Trump even more influence over US media – shaping the news and culture Americans watch and stream

The proposed Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger would concentrate oversight of two prominent newsrooms – CNN and CBS – under one owner with strong ties to Donald Trump.

theconversation.com

💬 How do you think art can reveal the absurdities of everyday systems? Thankfully on 'We Disrupt This Broadcast,' we have Julio Torres to share his insights, along with @adewaard.bsky.social to contextualize the cultural cost of art. Full podcast episode out now! peabodyawards.com/stories/podc...

💡 Author @adewaard.bsky.social joins We Disrupt This Broadcast to explore why disrupting the financialization of media is essential for empowering creative workers. 💥 💬 How do you think capitalism shapes the art and media we consume? Share your thoughts: open.spotify.com/episode/4G0b...

💬 How do you think art can reveal the absurdities of everyday systems? Thankfully on 'We Disrupt This Broadcast,' we have Julio Torres to share his insights, along with @adewaard.bsky.social to contextualize the cultural cost of art. Full podcast episode out now! peabodyawards.com/stories/podc...

Plus, joining us is @adewaard.bsky.social, author of 'Derivative Media: How Wall Street Devours Culture,' who will dive into the cultural costs and implications of "financialization." Don’t miss out on this thought-provoking conversation and follow our podcast! ➡️ peabodyawards.com/podcast

We Disrupt This Broadcast - The Peabody Awards

Drawing from the interviews conducted during the Peabody Awards ceremony, special events, and other conversations with honorees, “Stories that Matter: The Peabody Awards Podcast” is a series created a...

peabodyawards.com

🚨 TOMORROW –– #newepisodealert🚨 Get ready for an exciting new podcast episode of #WeDisruptThisBroadcast! We’re thrilled to welcome the brilliantly creative Julio Torres as our featured guest. 🙌 #Fantasmas #PeabodyWinner #StoriesThatMatter 👇

Fantasmas, created by Julio Torres, with an important message about artists

YouTube video by Peabody Awards

youtube.com

Peabody Awards@peabodyawards.bsky.social · 12mo ago

"Trust the artist!" 🎨✨ #Fantasmas Executive Producers Alex Bach and Daniel Powell, along with actors Greta Titelman and Joe Rumrill, share an important message about supporting out-of-the-box storytelling. Watch this Peabody Conversation for more on Julio Torres' artistry: 📺 youtu.be/PbaK4k76trQ

Diving back into media industries work this month and I’m absolutely blown away by @adewaard.bsky.social’s Derivative Media (2024). His 2020 piece has been on my mind for years and the book is bigger, better and bolder. If you’re a media industries, cultural studies or coms reader, check it out!

Andrew deWaard@adewaard.bsky.social · 2y ago

DERIVATIVE MEDIA is out today with @ucpress.bsky.social ! It's the first in-depth book on how Wall Street is harming film, television, and popular music. It's available in print or for free as an ebook. Please share! www.ucpress.edu/books/derivative-media bookshop.org/p/books/deri...

I recently spoke about Music In Orbit with @corybarker.bsky.social for the New Books Network podcast. We talked about the turn to subscription listening, Liberty Media's growing power in the media industries, and music programming in the streaming era. Listen here newbooksnetwork.com/music-in-orbit

this is happening in a few hours!

Andrew deWaard@adewaard.bsky.social · last yr.

I’m very excited to give a book talk for Derivative Media at San Diego Central Library on May 6 at 6:30pm. Registration encouraged. Refreshments served! sandiego.librarymarket.com/event/deriva...

Thanks to @carlzoilus.bsky.social @eweisbard.bsky.social @alyxvesey.bsky.social & @erazlogo.bsky.social for this great chat with me, @lizpelly.bsky.social & @brianfauteux.bsky.social -- video now available: youtu.be/9_Q68lIQ00k?...

Liz Pelly, Andrew deWaard, and Brian Fauteux on the streaming music industries, PMBiP, 3/18/2025

YouTube video by Eric Weisbard

youtu.be

Carl Wilson@carlzoilus.bsky.social · last yr.

The Popular Music Books series returns today (Tues), 5 pm ET, w/ a round on 21st-c music economics: Liz Pelly's streaming crit Mood Machine; Andrew deWaard's finance salvo Derivative Media; & Brian Fauteux's satellite investigation, Music in Orbit. To join: iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...

I’m very excited to give a book talk for Derivative Media at San Diego Central Library on May 6 at 6:30pm. Registration encouraged. Refreshments served! sandiego.librarymarket.com/event/deriva...

Last week, @adewaard.bsky.social visited the Department of Music at the University of Alberta to talk about his new book, Derivative Media, for the Questions About Music colloquium series. The conversation can still be watched here: www.youtube.com/live/gFwh9Nz...

How Wall Street Devours Music | Andrew deWaard

YouTube video by Questions About Music at the University of Alberta

youtube.com