California Leads 12-State Effort to Block Paramount/Warner Bros. Deal
The case will likely delay Paramount’s plans
I’ve been following the Paramount situation for some time now; Paramount Skydance announced its intention to buy Warner Bros. Discovery out from under Netflix back in March, and so far no one’s been able to stop it. Normally, the U.S. government might try to enact anti-trust protections (you know, the ones you learned about in 8th grade Social Studies), but it’s been extremely lax on the subject in recent years.
Enter the Attorneys General of 12 U.S. states. Led by California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, the group is suing to block the acquisition. Bonta argues that the deal would “create a media behemoth” that would negatively impact the economy.
The case is also being presented in defense of local movie theaters, who would lose out on revenue if coerced by a film distribution monopoly. And cable TV providers — the bread and butter of our own website — would lose negotiation leverage, causing increased prices for consumers. In Bonta’s words, “Your cable bill is going to go up.”
The states’ case is aiming to reduce costs for the everyday person — or at least stop them from rising even further — by stopping Paramount’s Warner Bros. acquisition. It’s too early to say how the case will end, but keep reading for the details we know about right now.
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Which states are participating?
Attorneys General from 12 states are banding together in an effort to stop Paramount. Here’s the full list in alphabetical order:
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Oregon
- Washington
What does this mean for your subscriptions?
Paramount Skydance hasn’t been quiet about its plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into one giant streamer to rival Netflix. If David Ellison’s plans go through, you’ll have fewer subscriptions and a higher bill to pay. There will be less competition forcing prices down, making things worse for both consumers and workers.
That’s why those 12 states are moving to block the deal. According to Reuters, this case could take months—and that kind of delay will cost Paramount a lot of money no matter how it’s resolved. Paramount even has to pay an extra $650 million in fees if it doesn’t close the deal by October. That means that these 12 states have created an actual, tangible threat to Paramount’s plans, not just a symbolic gesture.
Paramount+ is three streaming services in one; it also contains everything from the now-defunct SHOWTIME and BET+ streaming services. Will HBO Max be its next acquisition?
In addition to its HBO library, HBO Max also hosts Discovery+ content. That makes it a really appealing target for David Ellison’s growing monopoly.
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