Amazon completes MGM merger, will add studio's films and TV to Prime Video

[Ohio Joe]

Amazon announced on Thursday that it has completed its acquisition of MGM, saying the iconic maker of movies and TV shows is joining Prime Video and Amazon Studios. "The storied, nearly century-old studio—with more than 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards, and 100 Emmy Awards—will complement Prime Video and Amazon Studios' work in delivering a diverse offering of entertainment choices to customers," Amazon said.

The $8.45 billion deal was announced in May 2021. Amazon was able to complete it without a protracted fight because the Federal Trade Commission hasn't challenged it in court, despite other conflicts between Amazon and the FTC.

"The move comes after Amazon certified to the Federal Trade Commission that it had provided all the information requested by antitrust investigators reviewing the deal," The Wall Street Journal wrote today. "That step put the deal on a regulatory clock with the agency that has now expired, leaving the company free to move forward, a person familiar with the matter said."

The FTC could still challenge the merger and try to unwind it if a majority of commissioners votes to do so. The FTC—just like the Federal Communications Commission—is deadlocked with two Democrats and two Republicans. Biden's nomination of Alvaro Bedoya is pending in the full Senate after a 14-14 vote in the Senate Commerce Committee on March 3.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/amazon-completes-mgm-merger-will-add-studios-films-and-tv-to-prime-video/

This will be a big boost to Prime's catalog of movies and TV... I have to look into it to see how much of it I really care about. I know there are a lot of classics but most of those I already have on some other media... Big move though.

[exboyfil]

1. Unfortunately for MGM Amazon the catalog prior to the late 1980s

is owned by Warner Bros through the mechinations of Ted Turner.

Still I look forward to a further opening of the catalog.

I can't understand why they allowed the Fox/Disney merger but are fighting this merger. That was much more anti-competitive.

[Auggie]

2. I believe the merger also includes production rights to material not yet put on film ...

that, to Bezos, has to be worth everything.

Really ... just how valuable is a library of dated material that's been available for decades? But new stories are priceless, especially with BILLIONS of production money at hand and a distribution system available to anyone with a SmartTV, PC, tablet, or smartphone.