Paramount faces drawnout battle with state AGs over merger
Paramount faces drawnout battle with state attorneys general after agreeing to delay its Warner Bros. Discovery merger until after an antitrust trial. The company effectively conceded it was unlikely to block a preliminary injunction, shifting the fight to a full trial that could stretch into 2027.
Only days ago, a multistate antitrust challenge still looked like a speed bump for the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal. According to Variety, it now looks more like siege warfare — and Paramount has put closing on hold for at least several months.
Key Takeaways
- Paramount agreed not to close until five days after a trial ruling or June 1, 2027, whichever comes first.
- California AG Rob Bonta said Paramount “saw the writing on the wall” on a preliminary injunction fight.
- U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin had already found a “strong showing” of likely competitive harm.
- Paramount still calls the case one of the “weakest” modern merger challenges and wants a trial before year-end 2026.
- From Sept. 30, Paramount faces $7 million a day in payments to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders.
Why did Paramount pause the Warner Bros. merger?
David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance, had hoped to defeat an injunction by mid-September and close before daily shareholder payments mounted. Paramount’s lawyers sought a three-day evidentiary hearing in late August to challenge the states’ economist and concentration claims.
On Thursday, Judge Martinez-Olguin denied Paramount’s bid to speed briefing, signaling she was not inclined to green-light that multiday hearing. She had already issued a 28-day restraining order after finding the states made a “strong showing” the merger was likely to harm competition — a similar standard to a full injunction.
Bonta told Variety: “I think they saw the writing on the wall… They were going to lose. Otherwise, why not challenge it?” Appealing to the 9th Circuit was another option, but Paramount risked a long limbo like Nexstar’s enjoined Tegna deal, with relief possibly delayed into early 2027.
What happens next in the antitrust trial?
The fight moves to trial in Martinez-Olguin’s Oakland courtroom. Paramount says that path is “the fastest and clearest way to prove that this transaction is good for competition, good for consumers, and good for creators,” citing approvals by competition authorities abroad. It still aims for a hearing before the end of 2026.
A 12-state coalition wants more time. “We do think 2027 is appropriate,” Bonta said, adding the states would not disagree with an April 2027 date. Prosecutors say they need broader discovery after Paramount and Warner Bros. “dragging their feet” pre-litigation. A trial could last two to three weeks or more.
Settlement remains possible if Paramount offers structural remedies such as divestitures of cable or film distribution assets. Bonta has rejected “behavioral” fixes like release quotas or theatrical windows, calling past versions ineffective. “We’re focused on litigation,” he said.
Could the deal still close before mid-2027?
Under the standstill, Paramount cannot close until five days after the trial ruling or June 1, 2027 — whichever comes first. Even a fast trial will not erase the $7 million daily tab to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders starting Sept. 30.
Bonta argues Paramount’s push for speed reflects “business factors,” not due process, and warns the merger “will raise their prices” for viewers. For more streaming and TV deal coverage, see our Streaming & TV Alerts hub.
Bottom line: paramount faces drawnout battle is no longer a short procedural skirmish — it is a months-long trial fight with real closing risk and mounting costs.