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How D.C. Regulators Made 2024 the Year That Big Hollywood Deals Didn’t Happen
Variety’s 2024 Dealmakers were behind some of the biggest headlines in showbiz, but hostility from D.C. regulators made 2024 a slow year for M&A
Their harder stance on antitrust concerns has led regulators to come out swinging against proposed mergers such as JetBlue’s move to acquire Spirit Airlines or grocery giant Kroger Co.’s attempted takeover of Albertsons. For Hollywood, the dilemma of the Biden years has been that the hammer on big-dollar dealmaking came down just as the legacy studios really needed a lifeline, putting more pressure on companies that were already struggling in the face of technological disruption, earnings erosion and, in some cases, heavy debt loads. Jon Miller, a veteran investor who is CEO of Integrated Media, says that 2024 was the year that legacy studios such as Disney and Comcast’s NBCUniversal took the hard steps to address the declining fortunes of their linear cable channels.
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