Film and television have undergone a major transformation as streaming services have become an important way for audiences to access entertainment.

Streaming has created significant benefits. Consumers can access enormous libraries of films and television programs on demand, while new distribution channels have created opportunities for filmmakers, studios, and technology companies.

At the same time, the increasing integration of content production, distribution, streaming platforms, intellectual property, advertising, and other entertainment businesses makes competition in this industry an important public-policy issue.

Large entertainment companies should not be penalized simply for being successful. However, no company should be permitted to obtain or maintain market power through unlawful anticompetitive conduct.

We call on federal competition authorities and policymakers to protect a diverse and competitive film, television, and streaming marketplace.

This should include:

• Reviewing major mergers and acquisitions that could substantially reduce competition in film, television, or streaming.
• Investigating potentially exclusionary or anticompetitive conduct where supported by evidence.
• Examining whether contractual or licensing practices unfairly prevent competitors from accessing content or entering markets.
• Protecting independent studios, filmmakers, distributors, and emerging streaming services from unlawful restraints on competition.
• Encouraging meaningful consumer choice among competing entertainment services.
• Examining the competitive effects of companies simultaneously controlling content production and major distribution platforms.
• Promoting transparency in subscription pricing and consumer terms.
• Enforcing existing antitrust and consumer-protection laws when violations occur.
• Conducting continued research into how consolidation affects creators, workers, independent producers, consumers, and innovation.

Competition policy should be based on evidence rather than the popularity, size, political viewpoints, or creative decisions of individual entertainment companies.

This petition therefore does not call for dismantling a particular studio or streaming service merely because of its market position or programming. Structural remedies such as divestitures should be considered only when justified by applicable law and evidence of competitive harm.

Movies and television benefit from having many competing voices: major studios, independent filmmakers, streaming services, theaters, broadcasters, distributors, and new companies that have not yet been created.

The transition from physical media and traditional television to streaming should not result in a marketplace where new competitors cannot realistically emerge.

We ask federal regulators and lawmakers to preserve competition so that the future of entertainment is determined by creators and audiences—not by unnecessary barriers to entry or unlawful restraints on the marketplace.