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In my column on the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger I made the not exactly bold prediction that the proposed combination of two companies with near monopolies in their respective industries might attract some unfriendly attention from the feds. Yesterday, two weeks after the merger was announced, the deal got some public scrutiny at the hands of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.
It’d be hard to spin the hearing as a victory for Live Nation and Ticketmaster. They certainly didn’t seem to make a good impression on Senator Herb Kohl, the Wisconsin Democrat who chairs the subcommittee and could recommend that the Justice Department block the merger. “Mr. Rapino,” he told the Live Nation head after his testimony, “you strain our common sense.”
