After Justice Department Gives Up, Free Press Urges State Attorneys General to Block Paramount-Warner Bros. Mega-Merger
WASHINGTON — According to a report by Politico, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has approved Paramount Skydance’s $111 million bid to take over Warner Bros. Discovery. The merger of these two companies would create a media colossus with CBS, CNN, HBO, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures — among other major media properties — all under one roof.
Federal approval would clear a major hurdle to completing the deal. Several state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, are weighing whether to sue to block the merger. Typically, state attorneys general have coordinated past antitrust reviews with their federal counterparts at the Justice Department, but the Trump DoJ has ignored its consumer-protection duties in mergers involving favored Trump allies.
The merger has been met with protests from First Amendment advocates, unions, democracy defenders and even famous Hollywood actors and directors who say that the deal would give one company the power and incentives to raise prices, lay off thousands of workers and limit consumer options, while giving one billionaire family — the Ellisons — the power to shape public discourse to suit their political agenda and favor their allies in the Trump White House.
Free Press Co-CEO Craig Aaron said:
“Despite all the talk about conducting a thorough investigation, the fix was in at the Trump Justice Department from the start. Paramount Skydance has feted, flattered and promised sweeping changes to news coverage to win the administration’s approval, despite evidence that this much media power — all the movies studios, cable channels and newsrooms — under one corporate umbrella will undermine competition, destroy jobs, slant the news and endanger our democracy.
“We’ve already seen how far Paramount and the Ellison family are willing to go to diminish a once-proud network and news organization like CBS, and they promise to do worse if they get their hands on Warner Bros., HBO, CNN and all the rest. The Ellisons aren’t hiding their intentions, and no weak concessions will make this deal any better.
“Now that the federal government has abandoned antitrust enforcement in favor of cronyism and runaway consolidation, state attorneys general must step in to block this deal. They have a strong case for blocking this merger, and many brave journalists, filmmakers and workers in the film and entertainment industry have spoken out against the dangers of this deal despite threats to their livelihoods. They are warning us what will happen if this deal goes through, and we must listen. The attorney generals have the evidence they need to stop this deal, now the public needs them to take action.”