The
United States Justice Department
is investigating
tactics as it looks into the streaming company’s
agreement to buy
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s
studios and HBO Max streaming service, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The agency is asking competitors whether Netflix has engaged in
, according to a subpoena seen by the newspaper. The subpoena was sent to another entertainment company that wasn’t identified.
“Describe any other exclusionary conduct on the part of Netflix that would reasonably appear capable of entrenching market or monopoly power, “ the agency asked, according to the Journal.
The department is also reviewing the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. by
, the Journal said. Warner has urged its shareholders to reject that deal. The department, in its subpoena, asked whether either deal might hurt competition.
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by Bloomberg News.
Steven Sunshine, a lawyer for Netflix, said the company thinks the department is conducting a standard review of its proposal to buy Warner’s studio and streaming assets, the newspaper reported.
“We are not aware of any investigation into our business outside of the standard merger review process,” a Netflix spokesperson said separately in an email.
—With assistance from Josh Sisco.