{"id":2514521,"date":"2026-07-23T19:41:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2514521"},"modified":"2026-07-23T19:41:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:41:37","slug":"paramount-merger-lawsuit-could-spell-trouble-for-californias-entertainment-industry-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/paramount-merger-lawsuit-could-spell-trouble-for-californias-entertainment-industry-orange-county-register\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramount merger lawsuit could spell trouble for California\u2019s entertainment industry \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Rob Bonta\u2019s crusade against a big Hollywood merger could have drastic repercussions for the entertainment industry in California. The state\u2019s Attorney General says his lawsuit is to protect jobs, but those might be in New Jersey soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance have agreed to a deal in which the latter will acquire the former for $110 billion. It is a private-sector arrangement with both parties voluntarily accepting its terms. Neither force nor the threat of force was used to complete the deal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The merger isn\u2019t happening because Paramount is too powerful.\u00a0 It\u2019s happening because the traditional television business is shrinking, streaming competition is fierce, and legacy media companies are struggling to remain profitable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general can\u2019t leave a private transaction alone. They believe the merger violates antitrust law. Whether it actually does is another matter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bonta\u2019s office argues the deal would <\/span>reduce competition<\/span><\/a>, increase prices, and hurt competition by limiting film and television choices. These are serious allegations. The problem is that they rest on assumptions that ignore today\u2019s vastly different entertainment marketplace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The AGs, who are cheered on by lawmakers, studio executives as well as entertainers, will try to show that the merger will cause substantial harm to competition, consumers, workers and even the economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

A bipartisan analysis by Stephen Moore of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity and Robert Wolf, who served as an economic adviser to President Barack Obama, reaches the opposite conclusion. They believe the combined companies would be \u201c<\/span>a stronger competitor in entertainment and media<\/span><\/a>\u201d and would unleash \u201cnew investment and dynamism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Consumers would have more choices while opportunities for industry workers \u2014 filmmakers, writers, directors, actors and theater operators \u2014 \u201cwould benefit from a revitalized pipeline of films and increased collaboration across the ecosystem.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even after combining, the company would compete against Netflix, Disney, Amazon MGM, NBCUniversal, Apple, YouTube and countless independent producers.\u00a0 Consumers have never had more entertainment choices than they do today.<\/span><\/p>\n

So who\u2019s right?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While competition is often vigorous even when the number of competitors is small, the combined company will still face challenges, say Moore and Wolf. It won\u2019t be able to become a \u201cdominant gatekeeper\u201d because the market is already splintered among strong rivals. The abundance of major studios, independent producers and distributors, streamers and digital-first platforms will allow consumers to move freely across market players \u201cquickly, often at little or no switching cost.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They also rely on history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMergers and acquisitions are a routine,\u201d they say, and they are also an efficient and vital process for adding \u201cproductivity, synergy, profitability, and competitiveness to American companies.\u201d They further increase American shareholders\u2019 wealth and allow U.S. companies to position themselves to outcompete their foreign rivals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bonta and his allies are certain that Paramount will become an all-consuming monster, but mergers have produced the opposite of what was expected.\u00a0 History is littered with mergers that <\/span>failed to deliver<\/span><\/a> the dominance critics predicted, such as the Sears-Kmart union, \u201cQuaker Oats\u2019 acquisition of Snapple, Mattel\u2019s botched buy of the Learning Company, and AOL and Time Warner\u2019s disastrous deal,\u201d says Kimberlee Josephson, an associate business professor of at Lebanon Valley College.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf even industry experts can\u2019t guarantee the continuation of dominant players or the success of an M&A, then why do government officials and appointees think they can know what will be best for the market?\u201d she asks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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