Consumers Sue to Block Paramount-WBD Acquisition

A group of five consumers filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeking to block Paramount Skydance's proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and unwind its 2024 merger with Skydance Media.

The plaintiffs, identified as Pamela Faust, Len Marazzo, Lisa McCarthy, Deborah Rubinsohn and Gary Talewsky, include current Paramount subscribers, cable customers who access Paramount-owned channels and moviegoers. They allege the deals violate antitrust laws by reducing competition across streaming, television news, film production and theatrical distribution. According to the complaint, the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition would give the combined company 23.6 percent market share among U.S. and Canadian motion picture studios, with the top four studios controlling 76.3 percent overall. This, the suit claims, would lead to higher prices, fewer choices, reduced film and TV output, narrower release slates and diminished theatrical variety.

The lawsuit further argues that placing CNN under common ownership with CBS News would constrain editorial independence and viewpoint diversity in national TV news. It also contends...