Paramount/WBD merger conditions give the public "virtually nothing," judge is told

Key Points:

• Free speech and media advocacy groups urged a judge to block a California settlement allowing Paramount Skydance to finalize its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing the deal would reduce competition and provide little benefit to the public.
• The original lawsuit by 12 states, led by California, claimed the merger would harm competition by raising prices, reducing output, and lowering quality, but the settlement relies on behavioral remedies rather than blocking the merger outright, which critics say are insufficient and unenforceable.
• Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín expressed concerns about the settlement’s fairness and potential collusion, requesting further explanations on how the deal addresses the harms alleged in the complaint, with Senator Cory Booker also questioning the adequacy of the proposed remedies.
• Critics highlighted that the settlement’s conditions, such as film release commitments and editorial independence measures, are weak or constitutionally problematic, and that small businesses and independent creators receive no protections or benefits.
• California Attorney General Rob Bonta defended the settlement as the best option to protect competition, consumer choice, and workers, while the Writers Guild of America settled separately but maintains opposition to the merger’s potential damage to the industry.