There’s a Blue-Collar Hollywood—and the Paramount Merger Will Kill It

I. When I was a Federal Trade Commissioner, I learned that, as exciting as I thought my job was, most people don’t think about corporate consolidation. The word “merger” does not get the heart thumping. “Media merger” sounds like you’re stapling a document.  So let me try something different: If you watch CNN, if you watch John Oliver or Bill Maher or White Lotus or House of the Dragon, if you fall asleep on your couch to hours of Friends or Guy Fieri or Anthony Bourdain or Turner Classic…