California's Attorney General Outlined the Terms of a Settlement in the Lawsuit Involving Paramount and WBD
California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that significant structural measures will be required to settle the antitrust lawsuit against Paramount Skydance’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. He made these remarks in an interview with CNBC.
In July, Bonta and the attorneys general of 11 other U.S. states filed a lawsuit seeking to block the deal. The coalition includes Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington.
According to Bonta, the plaintiffs consider the case clear-cut from an antitrust perspective. He noted that the states’ claims pertain to three markets identified in the lawsuit, specifically the movie and pay-TV markets. Bonta also said that Paramount raised issues regarding the streaming market, CNN, and the positions of foreign regulators, although these are not the subject of the states’ lawsuit.
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The attorney general added that the states are ready for good-faith negotiations with Paramount and its CEO, David Ellison. According to him, the plaintiffs prefer to settle the dispute out of court, but are currently proceeding with the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, the states express concern about the scale of the merged company. In their view, it will control nearly one-third of films and about one-third of basic cable television programming. If the deal is finalized, it will bring together Warner Bros. and Paramount studios, the CBS network, MTV, BET, CNN, and Discovery channels, as well as the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services.
Paramount had initially expected to complete the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by September 30, but agreed to extend the deadline for closing the deal to no later than June 2027. The court hearing is scheduled for March.
