#paramount skydance

Lillian Rizzo at CNBC:

A group of 12 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Monday challenging Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The lawsuit, which came after weeks of speculation on if and when it would be filed, seeks to block the merger for antitrust concerns. CNBC’s David Faber reported earlier in the day that the lawsuit was expected to come on Monday. The merger deal would combine two storied film studios — Paramount and Warner Bros. — as well as streaming platforms Paramount+ and HBO Max. Paramount CEO David Ellison has previously said the streaming services would become one following the transaction. It would also mean the formation of the largest portfolio of TV networks in the U.S., bringing together Paramount’s broadcast network CBS and pay TV channels like MTV and BET with WBD’s CNN, TNT and others. Led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District for the Northern District of California, is also brought forth by attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington.

[...] Paramount could face additional costs if closing the deal were to be delayed. As part of the proposed merger, Paramount has has agreed to pay a so-called ticking fee, which kicks in if the closing goes past Sept. 30. Paramount set the fee at an additional 25 cents paid to WBD shareholders per quarter until closing. The fee would equal about $650 million in cash value per quarter for every quarter the deal is not closed.

12 states, led by California, are leading a lawsuit against the Paramount Skydance behemoth’s takeover of WBD.

See Also:

Reuters, via HuffPost: California, 11 States Suing To Block Paramount's $110 Billion Warner Bros. Deal

Oliver Willis at Daily Kos:

In a New York Times op-ed published Tuesday, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is defending his company’s attempt to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, which would create one of the biggest media conglomerates in American history.  The proposed merger is opposed by a coalition of Democratic attorneys general representing 12 states. They argue that the combined media company would substantially reduce competition in the industry and is in violation of federal law against such mergers. In his column, Ellison contends that much of the opposition comes from fears of how he would interfere with the content at CNN, which is owned by Warner. Ellison claims that despite the close ties between his family—his father is billionaire Larry Ellison—and the Republican Party, fears of editorial interference are overblown. “[W]hen it comes to our news operations, I do not aspire to lead these companies to bend their newsrooms to my views. I believe that news should be based on facts and truth,” Ellison wrote. This is not a credible claim.

[...] Moving to the right has been a ratings loser for CBS, with news broadcasts hitting record lows in viewership. The concern that Ellison plans to give CNN a similar treatment were voiced by longtime CNN contributor Christiane Amanpour in May at a journalism conference. “I’m concerned based on what’s happened to the other things that he has taken over already, like CBS News … hemorrhaging viewers, probably hemorrhaging money, this ideological realignment of CBS and the destruction—potentially—of ‘60 Minutes,” she said of Ellison. Ellison’s op-ed is a sign that despite his family’s billions of dollars and their connections to Trump, he is very aware of the widespread disapproval of his meddling in CBS News. He is using one of the world’s biggest and influential media platforms to gaslight the public on his use of CBS News to promote right-wing propaganda, and he is banking on misleading the world so he can increase his power and influence.

The Justice Department said it determined that the massive merger was “not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers.”

June 12, 2026, 1:50 PM MST / Updated June 12, 2026, 3:37 PM MST

By Steve Kopack, Ryan J. Reilly and Daniel Arkin

The Justice Department has signed off on Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing the way for a merger that will unite two historic Hollywood studios and reshape the American entertainment industry.

Example:

INT. PARAMOUNT - EXECUTIVE SUITE- DAY

Paramount was in debt. (Shocking, I know.) Their parent company decided to sell Paramount. Skydance has proposed $8 Billion.

Last year, Skydance and Paramount announced they wanted to merge into "Paramount Skydance" with David Ellison as chair and Jeff Shell as CEO. If they merged, the company would be valued at $28 Billion.

The current Interim CEO of Paramount is Chris McCarthy. He is the one who made the deal with Matt and Trey to make the specials for P+.

The problem is a huge merge like this needs to be approved by regulatory agencies.

Then, CBS did an interview with Kamala Harris, that Trump claimed was edited. A Right Wing org, "Center for Human Rights" filed a complaint with the FCC on Trump's behalf. He sued CBS.

The new FCC head, claimed that the interview could get the merger rejected.

This video covers the Trump lawsuit and FCC etc really well.

Anyway, if you are a broadcast Network, you especially do not want to piss off the FCC.

This led to Paramount doing a number of things to try and kiss Trump's ass and capitulate to the Admin so that the merger would get approved including cutting programs, internal reviews, etc

INT. SOUTH PARK STUDIOS - DAY

Meanwhile, Paramount and SPS is in the midst of their another lawsuit with Warner Bros. over the streaming rights to the seasons and specials, which was a $500 mil deal.

WB is alleging that Paramount "blatantly intended to prop up Paramount+ at the expense of Warner/HBO," and also that Paramount committed "flagrant duplicitous contortions of fact and breaches of contract,"

Paramount filed a countersuit basically saying WB got what they paid for and their suit was frivolous.

Now Matt and Trey have accused Jeff Shell (who, remember, stands to gain a new CEO position of a $28 billion company) of interfering in negotions between Paramount and Warner Bros.

M&T's attorney has threatened legal action against Paramount (by way of Skydance, basically).

Mind you, Paramount's streaming deal is set to expire. Paramount has two years left on its $900 million deal for the streaming rights to SP.

EXT. SOUTH PARK STUDIOS - WEEKS LATER

And now we have the delay...

As I said, their statement is a response to a Comedy Central press release. The delay wasn't a SPS press release. They say "We hope fans get to see them somehow,"

It really sounds like they had nothing to do with the delay and it's all on Comedy Central/Paramount. It sounds like they may have grounds for further interference.

EXT. PARAMOUNT EXECUTIVE SUITE - MOMENTS LATER