David Zaslav dodged an awkward antitrust hearing on Capitol Hill but he may get called again
Warner Bros.Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav skipped town during a Senate antitrust hearing on his planned sale to Netflix – but the media mogul is said to have angered committee members so much that not only did they take their ire out on those who showed up, he may still get hauled onto Capitol Hill for a grilling, On The Money has learned.People close to Zaslav tell On The Money that he missed Tuesday’s hearing because he happened to be traveling to Europe for the Winter Olympics, while making a quick a pit stop to meet with European regulators to tout the benefits of his Netflix deal.
That means he left the heavy lifting back home – including fielding some thorny accusations from lawmakers that WBD is both creating a streaming monopoly with Netflix and aiding a left-wing takeover of streaming programming – to his chief operating officer, Bruce Campbell, and his deal partner, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos.It didn’t seem to work, with the bi-partisan skepticism portending a tough ride for the deal through the Trump DOJ antitrust division.And Zas, as he is known in media circles, didn’t help things by skipping the hearing, sources said.“Let’s just say it didn’t go over well with the committee,” according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
This person, with ties to the GOP members of the subcommittee, said Lee, the Utah Republican, may call for a follow-up meeting so Zas can be grilled.A spokesman for Zaslav had no immediate comment.A press rep for Lee told Fox Businesses Teuta Dedvukaj: “Chairman Lee was glad we can get representatives from both Netflix and Warner Bros.
Discovery for the hearing,” and declined further comment.No Senate subcommittee can block a merger, but it could make a key recommendation to the Trump Justice Department’s antitrust division, which must approve the transaction.After the tense hearing, Wall Street executives interviewed by On The Money said the reaction, particularly the grilling from GOP senato...