iWorld
Netflix faces DOJ scrutiny over $82.7bn Warner Bros acquisition
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: The US Department of Justice is probing whether Netflix deployed anti-competitive tactics around its proposed $82.7bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery’s studios and streaming business, the Wall Street Journal reported, signalling early antitrust unease over a deal that could redraw Hollywood’s power map.
In a civil subpoena reviewed by the paper, the department asked another entertainment company to detail “any other exclusionary conduct” by Netflix that could plausibly entrench market or monopoly power. Regulators also sought views on whether rival bids, most notably from Paramount Skydance, could harm competition, and how past studio or distributor mergers have affected bargaining power for creative talent, including variations in talent contracts across studios.
Warner Bros’ appeal is obvious: marquee film and television studios, a deep content vault, and franchises spanning Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and DC Comics’ Batman and Superman. But the scale is precisely what has caught regulators’ attention. The DOJ’s review, the WSJ said, is at an early stage.
The spotlight is not limited to Netflix. The DOJ is also reviewing Paramount’s proposed bid, which Warner Bros’ board has unanimously rejected as “inadequate” and “not in the best interests” of shareholders. Paramount is pressing to wrap up the government’s review within weeks, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Once information requests are satisfied, a 10-day waiting period will begin for the DOJ to decide whether to challenge the offer on competition grounds.
Politics is adding heat. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos faced sharp questioning from US senators this week over how the deal might affect competition across entertainment. Overseas, scrutiny is building too: British politicians and former policymakers have urged the UK’s competition watchdog to open a full review, while EU antitrust regulators are expected to examine rival bids by Netflix and Paramount Skydance in parallel.
Markets, for now, shrugged. The S&P 500 rose about 2 per cent and the Nasdaq gained more than 2 per cent.
iWorld
WPP Opendoor and Snapchat launch AI Lens for Prime Video India
Generative AI Lens personalises content discovery with real-time user integration.
MUMBAI: In the age of main characters, Prime Video is handing users the script and the spotlight. WPP Opendoor, WPP’s dedicated Amazon unit, has teamed up with Snapchat to roll out an India-first generative AI-powered Lens for Prime Video’s latest campaign, ‘Stories for Your Every Era… it’s on Amazon Prime’. The activation taps into the rising “era-core” trend, where identities shift with moods, moments and mindsets and content is expected to keep up.
The Lens does exactly that. Using generative AI, it places users directly into the worlds of popular Prime Video titles such as Maxton Hall, Beast Games, The Boys and The Traitors, embedding their faces into key visuals in real time. The result is less browsing, more becoming.
The idea is rooted in a behavioural shift: audiences increasingly see themselves as the centre of their own narratives, especially on social platforms. By turning viewers into participants, the campaign blurs the line between content discovery and content experience.
It also introduces a layer of personalisation that goes beyond algorithms. Whether someone identifies with a “trust no-one era” or an “infinite aura era”, the Lens curates recommendations that align with that evolving identity making discovery feel intuitive rather than instructed.
This marks a shift in how streaming platforms approach engagement. Instead of pushing titles, the focus is on pulling users into the story itself transforming passive scrolling into interactive storytelling.
The collaboration also underscores how platforms like Snapchat are becoming key playgrounds for content marketing, particularly when paired with emerging technologies like generative AI. The format is native, immersive and built for participation three things traditional discovery often struggles to deliver.
In a crowded streaming landscape, where attention is the real currency, Prime Video’s bet is clear, if viewers feel like the story is about them, they are far more likely to press play.
