Merger Mania

I seems movie companies conglomerates are anxious to become larger, more all-encompassing, and more octopus-like.

Yup, that should be excellent news for labor unions and the workers they rep.

... [D]istributors that have direct relationships with consumers will hunt for studio acquisitions that ensure access to the desirable content. AT&T's $85.4 billion bid for Time Warner could open the floodgates if approved by regulators.

"I see it sailing through, and that in turn will send the signal that other megamergers will receive a friendly reception in Washington," says top media investment banker Lloyd Greif, brushing aside a recent report that President-elect Donald Trump remains opposed to the deal. "I think 2017 is going to be a rambunctious M&A market." ...

See, when the DGA, SAG and the WGA (or Screen Writers Guild, as it was then called) battled Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner and Darryl Zanuck to represent movie workers, the playing field was one hell of a lot more level than it is now.

Today, international conglomerates get larger and larger, also more bull-headed about maximizing profits. The entertainment unions got residuals in the fifties and sixties because they could inflict significant pain on the companies against which they faced off.

When guilds and unions become gnats battling and negotiating against corporate dragns standing forty stories high, what kind of leverage you think they'll have?

Where is the Sherman Anti-Trust Act when you need it?