Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Why the Netflix–Warner Bros Merger Is a Vote for American Jobs & Freedom

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Why the Netflix–Warner Bros Merger Is a Vote for American Jobs & Freedom · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Christina. I'm just announced that you're deploying body cameras to Minneapolis.
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  Speaker 2: What's your thinking behind this decision and.
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  Speaker 1: Do you want to see this? Well, it wasn't my decision.
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  Speaker 2: So it's generally speaking, I think eighty percent good for
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  Speaker 2: law enforcement.
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  Speaker 1: But if he wants to do that, I'm.
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  Speaker 2: Okay with it. You're listening to the forty seven Morning
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  Speaker 2: Update with Ben ferguson.
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  Speaker 1: Good Tuesday morning. It's nice to have you with us
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  Speaker 1: on the forty seven Morning Update. And we've got one
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  Speaker 1: big story for you, a major hearing in Washington, d C.
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  Speaker 1: It deals with Netflix and Warner Brothers and the merger,
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  Speaker 1: and it is a hearing about jobs, national security, and
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  Speaker 1: standing up to China. We have all the details for you.
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  Speaker 1: dot com slash ben to learn more right now. That's
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  Speaker 1: six six seven nine seven eight seven one. It's eight
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  Speaker 1: six six six seven nine seven eight seven to one.
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  Speaker 1: It's the forty seven Morning Update, and it starts right now.
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  Speaker 2: Story number one.
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  Speaker 1: I wrote a book years ago, and after that I
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  Speaker 1: stopped writing for a very long time. But this week
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  Speaker 1: I decided to write an op ed that you can
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  Speaker 1: read on Foxnews dot Com. I'm also going to post
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  Speaker 1: a link up on social media so you can follow
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  Speaker 1: me on x Ben Ferguson Show or on Instagram Ben
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  Speaker 1: Ferguson Podcast, and you can read the entire article. Now,
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  Speaker 1: what made me decide to write an article is a
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  Speaker 1: major issue, one of importance, one that Ronald Reagan understood,
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  Speaker 1: and that is America needs to have dominance in the
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  Speaker 1: world when it comes to what we're putting out. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: I'm talking about movies. You may remember that Donald Trump
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  Speaker 1: also understood this about the importance of television and exporting
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  Speaker 1: what America and freedom actually looks like. We also have
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  Speaker 1: other adversaries around the world that want nothing more than
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  Speaker 1: to silence American movies and put their propaganda everywhere. The
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  Speaker 1: biggest person that's looking to do this is China. They're
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  Speaker 1: coming after our kids to the point where they had
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  Speaker 1: to sell TikTok to American ownership. They understand the value
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  Speaker 1: of silencing and censoring different things and people, and that
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  Speaker 1: is exactly why this hearing in Washington, DC today is
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  Speaker 1: vitally important and it deals with a merger. Now, I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to read for you the op ed that I
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  Speaker 1: have put together and give you a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: commentary throughout. But I hope that all of you will
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  Speaker 1: take the op ed and this show and share it
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  Speaker 1: wherever you can, because this hearing actually deals with national security,
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  Speaker 1: putting America first and exporting freedom of speech and freedom
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  Speaker 1: through the arts to the rest of the world. Today
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  Speaker 1: in Washington, a critical hearing will help decide the future
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  Speaker 1: of America's entertainment industry and America's influence abroad. The question
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  Speaker 1: before lawmakers is simple but consequential. Will the United States
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  Speaker 1: strengthen its own creative companies or weaken them just as
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  Speaker 1: foreign avisaries use media, culture and capital to shape global narratives.
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  Speaker 1: At the center of the debate is a proposed merger
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  Speaker 1: between Netflix and Warner Brothers Discovery. This should not be
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  Speaker 1: treated as just another corporate deal. That's why I'm talking
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  Speaker 1: about it right now. By the way on this show.
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  Speaker 1: It directly affects American jobs, It directly affects American movie making,
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  Speaker 1: and it directly affects US national security. Let me explain why.
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  Speaker 1: For more than a century, American films and television have
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  Speaker 1: carried our values around the world of freedom, creativity, open expression.
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  Speaker 1: The cultural influences have been one of America's the greatest
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  Speaker 1: strategic advantages, and today I would say that is under
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  Speaker 1: real threat. The entertainment industry supports hundreds of thousands of
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  Speaker 1: good paying American jobs. This includes writers and actors, camera crews, editors,
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  Speaker 1: visual effects artists, set builders, marketers, and engineers. And then
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  Speaker 1: don't even count all the people behind the scenes to
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  Speaker 1: get hired for social media and things like that. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I care about these jobs because I work with these
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  Speaker 1: people each and every day, and I understand how important
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  Speaker 1: is to keep those jobs in America. These are also
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  Speaker 1: middle class jobs. I'll give you a great example today,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to basically help employ a team of fifteen people.
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  Speaker 1: Why because of me doing what I'm doing right now,
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  Speaker 1: There are cameramen, makeup artists, they're editors, their producers. All
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  Speaker 1: of these people have jobs right now because of the
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  Speaker 1: entertainment industry. Why on earth would I want to turn
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  Speaker 1: that over to a foreign country. Not only is it
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  Speaker 1: about that, but it's also about building the economies in
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  Speaker 1: different states. All right, These jobs are spread all over
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  Speaker 1: the country. I'm doing this right now for you from Texas.
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  Speaker 1: You've got states like California and Georgia, New Mexico and
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  Speaker 1: New Jersey that are all growing in this area. We
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  Speaker 1: know about movies that are made in Georgia, for example.
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  Speaker 1: There's a lot of people that are listening right now.
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  Speaker 1: Where you live. There is a thriving industry. And if
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  Speaker 1: you think this is like theoretical, you're wrong. Netflix recently
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  Speaker 1: committed one billion dollars to build a new production studio
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  Speaker 1: at the former Fort Mama Army Base in New Jersey,
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  Speaker 1: a project that's expected to create you ready for this,
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  Speaker 1: more than five thousand high paying American jobs. Now, that
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  Speaker 1: doesn't even count all the jobs that come because of
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  Speaker 1: what is produced there and all the support for when
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  Speaker 1: those jobs wrap up and the movies or the content
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  Speaker 1: is made available to all of us. You understand, there's
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  Speaker 1: a snowball effect here. That investment turns a former military
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  Speaker 1: base into an engine of American production. Innovation and employment.
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  Speaker 1: And it only happens when companies have this scale and
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  Speaker 1: the stability to invest long term because this is big
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  Speaker 1: money we're talking about here. Streaming, however, is capital intensive
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  Speaker 1: as well. When companies are weak in or fragmented, that's
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  Speaker 1: when I get worried. Right, because production is slow, opportunities shrink,
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  Speaker 1: that's when the layoffs happen. Scale brings stability, Stability protects
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  Speaker 1: and creates more American jobs. This is a no brainer
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  Speaker 1: for me. Now, A combined Netflix and Warner Brothers Discovery
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  Speaker 1: would create not only a stronger but a more resilient
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  Speaker 1: American company. That's me and my ideals as an American
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  Speaker 1: first guy, and it would create an American company able
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  Speaker 1: to invest consistently in one thing that matters the most
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  Speaker 1: to me, US production instead of foreign production. That means
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  Speaker 1: more projects made here at home, and more investments like
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  Speaker 1: the military base that was just bought. That is amazing
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  Speaker 1: for American job. This is all about protecting what I
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  Speaker 1: say is so important to us, our secret weapon. Our
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  Speaker 1: influence around the world through TV, film and content is massive,
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  Speaker 1: all right. I look at my podcast and it's incredible
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  Speaker 1: how many people download it in foreign countries. It's unbelievable
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  Speaker 1: the reach that you can have when you create things here.
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  Speaker 1: This is the reason why I say it is a
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  Speaker 1: strategic national asset. Let me explain why more American movies
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  Speaker 1: and I'm going back to my op ed and television
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  Speaker 1: reached more people globally than any government program or diplomatic initiative.
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  Speaker 1: They literally shape how the world views the United States
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  Speaker 1: of America, and it serves a powerful counterweight to authoritarian
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  Speaker 1: propaganda and regimes around the world. Now on the other
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  Speaker 1: side of this is China. We all know how much
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  Speaker 1: influence China wants to have on our lives. Go back
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  Speaker 1: to what just happened with TikTok, right, You're terrified of
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  Speaker 1: what can happen with TikTok because TikTok being owned by
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  Speaker 1: China and China hating America and trying to have influence,
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  Speaker 1: can change the algorithms and put out propaganda to undermine America.
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  Speaker 1: We knew that. That's part of the reason why the
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  Speaker 1: forced sell to American assets was so vitally important for
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  Speaker 1: a national security standpoint. Now China understands this. It's why
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  Speaker 1: they tightly control media at home and they heavily invest
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  Speaker 1: in state back platforms abroad because they want foreign influence.
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  Speaker 1: We've already seen how that censorship works. I'll give you
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  Speaker 1: a great example. Top Gun. Maverick loved the movie. The
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  Speaker 1: film was a massive global success, bringing billions of dollars
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  Speaker 1: made in America and guests who refused to show it China.
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  Speaker 1: China refused to allow it to be shown in its theaters.
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  Speaker 1: Why because of a small patch on Tom Crui's leather
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  Speaker 1: flight jacket depicting the flag of Taiwan. No violence, not
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  Speaker 1: offensive content, not a diet tribe against China. It was
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  Speaker 1: a patch on a jacket that ninety nine zero point
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  Speaker 1: nine percent of the audience would never have even noticed.
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  Speaker 1: That single symbol was enough for Beijing to block the
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  Speaker 1: film entirely. The message was unmistakable, by the way, unmistakable
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  Speaker 1: by the way access to China's markets require you bowing
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  Speaker 1: down to them. Right political compliance and self censorship. Ronald
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  Speaker 1: Reagan understood the fight long before streaming even existed. He
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  Speaker 1: knew television and storytelling were powerful tools in the battle
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  Speaker 1: of ideas, literally going after the in the Cold War.
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  Speaker 1: He understood that foreign or communist influence over American media
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  Speaker 1: posed a real threat. That's why he became so famous
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  Speaker 1: when he was fighting communism in California. As Reagan warned, quote,
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  Speaker 1: freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
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  Speaker 1: Protecting American culture and the cultural leadership became a cornerstone
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  Speaker 1: of his presidency, and that lesson matters more now, I
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  Speaker 1: argue than ever before. They're also concerns about foreign money
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  Speaker 1: entering the American media ecosystem and then national security risks
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  Speaker 1: that come with it. Some company proposals are involving legacy
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  Speaker 1: studios that would shrink the field from five to four
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  Speaker 1: major studios. And that's a problem, right, concentrating more power
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  Speaker 1: in fewer hands and driving up costs for families who
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  Speaker 1: just want to watch a movie at home. That kind
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  Speaker 1: of consolidation reduces competition, It limits your choice and historically
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  Speaker 1: leads to layoffs, not innovation. Even more troubling, some of
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  Speaker 1: these proposal and these takeovers are requiring money to come
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  Speaker 1: from overseas, reportedly backed by twenty four billion, for example,
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  Speaker 1: from foreign governments. Did you hear? I said, foreign governments
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  Speaker 1: including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Now I'm hardly
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  Speaker 1: a fan of excess regulation, but We have laws on
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  Speaker 1: the books for reason to protect the American marketplace and
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  Speaker 1: the American people from foreign manipulation. So let's be clear,
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  Speaker 1: twenty four billion twenty four billion from the Middle East
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  Speaker 1: is not philanthropy. Governments do not invest billions in American
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  Speaker 1: media for fun. They do it to gain leverage, influence, narratives,
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  Speaker 1: shape what you see and hear. That's why I say
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  Speaker 1: this is a direct national security concern. So in today's world,
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  Speaker 1: influence is power, and when American content is weakened, something
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  Speaker 1: else fills the void, and increasingly that content is shaped
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  Speaker 1: or approved by authoritarian governments. That's the reason why I
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  Speaker 1: am saying right now this Netflix Warner Brothers Discovery merger,
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't eliminate competition. It actually strengthens American company and
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  Speaker 1: allows for us to get foreign backed actors out of
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  Speaker 1: our studios. That's why I say that this merger is important.
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  Speaker 1: It's a vote for American workers, American creativity, and American strength.
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  Speaker 1: And by the way, Ronald Reagan knew culture influence was
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  Speaker 1: national security and power that, my friends hasn't changed. So
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  Speaker 1: i'd encourage you call your senator, tell them what you think.
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  Speaker 1: If you want to back as I do the Netflix
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  Speaker 1: Warner Brothers Discovery merger.
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  Speaker 2: Why thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning
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