Paramount subscribers have taken their fight over the $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking Justice Elena Kagan to stop the deal from closing on Tuesday while their antitrust challenge is considered.
The emergency filing, dated Monday, argues that U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin was wrong to deny a temporary restraining order and that allowing the transaction to close would harm competition in streaming, news and theatrical distribution.
The bid is a long shot: the Supreme Court would have to act immediately to freeze a merger that has already cleared regulatory and courtroom hurdles.
What the settlement requires
Last week, the judge approved a settlement between Paramount, the states and the Writers Guild of America, despite objections from the subscriber group. Key structural terms include:
- At least 30 theatrical films a year in the first two years, rising to 32 a year for the next three.
- Minimum numbers of wide and independent theatrical releases.
- At least half of the films produced or jointly produced by the combined company.
- Separate basic-cable negotiations for Paramount and Warner Bros.
- A five-member independent board overseeing editorial standards at CBS News and CNN, selected by Paramount.
If the cable-negotiation term is violated, a court could order divestitures of channels such as BET, VH1 and Comedy Central. CNN and New Line Cinema are not part of those divestiture scenarios.
Why this matters for the screen business
The subscribers claim the settlement terms “do not preserve competition between Paramount and Warner Bros.” In their filing, they argue that the judge rejected the restraining-order request on a premise the record contradicts and that the public interest favors holding the deal until the Supreme Court weighs in.
For media planners and entertainment marketers, the release quotas are a five-year supply signal for theatrical and streaming windows. The editorial governance board and divestiture triggers also show how regulators are attaching structural remedies to a media merger of this scale.
The operating team is already set
As the court fight plays out, David Ellison has announced the senior team for the combined group. He will be chairman and CEO, with former Mattel chief Ynon Keiz joining as co-CEO. Casey Bloys will run the streaming business, while Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg will oversee the combined film studios. Mark Thompson will continue to run CNN.
The company is staffing for day one, even as subscribers ask the Supreme Court for a last-minute pause.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
