Your talking points on today's Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery merger lawsuit
It’s on.
Led by California, a group of 12 states California have filed a lawsuit to prevent the $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros Discovery by Skydance Paramount.
The coalition of states also include: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington.
The basis of the claim is that the tie-up would restrict competition, causing harm on movie theatres and basic cable distributors. As part of the suit, the states have requested that the two companies don’t close the merger “until after the judicial process concludes.” If the companies don’t agree, the states will file a temporary restraining order.
Here’s a couple of points about all of this that I think are worth being across:
Paramount Skydance are all in on getting this deal across the line. In its purchase agreement with WBD, it promised to pay a 25 cent per share ticking fee every quarter past Sept 30 that the process isn’t completed by (that works out to be around $650 million per quarter). It also agreed to a termination fee of $7 billion.
Another deadline looming for Paramount Skydance is the US mid-terms, which will see power likely back in the hands of the Democrats who see this merger as a major political issue.
On the politics of this, from PBS:
Throughout Paramount’s quest for Warner, questions of political influence have also piled up — with criticism falling largely along party lines in Washington. No Republicans signed on to the states’ case on Monday.
Democrats have long expressed skepticism about whether regulators working under Trump would scrutinize the deal as heavily. Several attorneys general joining Monday’s lawsuit took aim at the Justice Department’s decision to not challenge the deal — pointing in particular to the president’s close relationship with the billionaire family of Paramount CEO David Ellison.
“Something happened and perhaps that something had to do with a mega-billionaire named Ellison,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told reporters on Monday. “We are seeing more and more instances where the Trump DOJ is just rolling over for corporate consolidation,” she added.
Rob Bonta, the attorney general of California, wrote an op-ed for Variety on why they filed the lawsuit.
By combining two of the five largest film distributors and two of the five largest basic cable channel owners, the resulting media behemoth would control nearly one-third of theatrical movie distribution and nearly one-third of basic cable channels. It would control more than 30% of the blockbuster release distribution that buoys the movie theater business and 50 of the most popular cable TV channels, spanning an unrivaled slate of news, sports, entertainment, kids, family, factual, and lifestyle content.
Giving that much power to one media company would wipe out competition, jack up prices, hurt the quality of content we’re offered, and bring fewer movies and shows to our screens. Combining cable news channels would mean fewer journalists informing our electorate and fewer opportunities for Americans to hear the full breadth of information and opinions on a subject. Consolidation would mean fewer voices speaking truth to power and fewer documentarians, filmmakers, showrunners, producers, writers, and artists shedding light on important stories that too often go untold.
That’s a death knell for the film and TV industry — and for our democracy.
What Rob Bonta doesn’t mention in his Variety op-ed is that he is also running for re-election in November, so he is highly incentivised to get a win on this widely opposed merger.
The hugely popular New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has backed his AG Letitia James on an issue that strikes at the heart of Mamdani’s concerns about wealth and power consolidated in the hands of too few. He says, as per Deadline:
“This is not a merger that serves the public,” he said. “It would hand one company nearly a third of the movies and cable channels Americans watch, raise prices for streaming and cable, endanger the livelihoods of thousands of New York artists and entertainment workers, and threaten to shutter theaters across our city. New York’s workers helped build this industry. They should not be sacrificed for the sake of further corporate consolidation.”
Worth a read on this is Matt Stoller, who wrote yesterday about the looming State challenges. He’s bullish that the State AGs have a chance at stopping the merger:
…over the past year, state attorneys general have made their presence known. They won a temporary injunction against a different Trump-approved media merger, NextStar-TEGNA, and beat Ticketmaster against the wishes of the Trump Antitrust Division. And several had been investigating the Paramount-Warner deal for months. Still, I don’t think the Ellison’s really took seriously the prospect of having to justify their merger in a court until recently.
It’s a stressful time for many, but, maybe not everyone. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is selling about $59.5 million in company stock.
Speaking of Monopoly…s
Netflix has announced details on its upcoming TV competition series based on the world’s worst board game Monopoly. Produced in partnership with board game rights holder Hasbro Entertainment and production company Studio Lambert (which also made Netflix competition shows Squid Game: The Challenge and The Circle), the show will debut in 2027 with casting underway.
As per THR:
Competing on a life-sized Monopoly Town Square, 12 players will use strategy, alliance and dealmaking to take home the prize. With opportunities to earn money, buy properties and negotiate deals, the contestants must work to stay afloat as the bankrupt players get eliminated, with only one player left standing.
Read: Variety
News Desk
YouTube show Alan’s Universe is coming to Netflix with new episodes available on both platforms on the same day/date. Read: Deadline
Netflix has announced a France Physical 100 series. Read: C21
The cast of the very disappointing FX adaptation of the very good comic The Beauty have been released, putting into doubt future episodes. Read: Deadline
UK’s Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is talking about opening up the scope of the UK TV license fee to also cover streaming services. Read: Deadline
Viewership is continuing to rise for The Daily Show, with the show again reporting its highest-rated Q2 in the key 18-49 demo in nine years. The Jon Stewart Monday episodes are leading this, but the rest of the week is also benefitting. ABW notes that the show would make for a great fit to replace Byron Allen’s shows when his timeslot licensing deal is up. Read: Deadline
Meanwhile, without competition from Colbert, Kimmel saw an all-time ratings high in June. Read: Late Nighter
Trailer Park
Crystal Lake debuts October 15 on peacock (and Stan in Australia).
A prequel to the Friday the 13th franchise, the series follows single mother Pam Voorhees who has been unable to shake her grief after her young, sickly son Jason tragically drowned in the town lake almost a year before. When two strangers arrive at Pam’s door digging into her past, a disturbing chain of events are set into motion, leaving the townspeople of Crystal Lake wondering: just who is Pam Voorhees?
Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches returns for season three in 2027 on AMC.
All The Truth in My Lies debuts August 28 on Netflix.
Two roommates join a bachelorette road trip, where unspoken feelings ignite and shake up their entire friend group. Based on Elísabet Benavent's novel.
Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya debuts on Prime Video July 24.
In a dysfunctional Delhi Government School, a laidback headmaster's attempt at a fully paid Cambridge trip sparks a chaotic makeover attempt - forcing a ragtag team of teachers to fix the broken system, one blackboard lesson at a time.
Operation Safed Sagar debuts on Netflix August 7.
As the Kargil War erupts between India and Pakistan, the Golden Arrows squadron of the Air Force takes flight on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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