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California AG Defends Challenge to $110B Paramount-Warner Deal

By  |  August 10, 2026
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta is defending a multistate effort to stop Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing that concerns over competition — rather than politics — are driving the states’ case.

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    Bonta’s latest comments come amid a widening public dispute over why California and 11 other states are seeking to prevent the two major entertainment companies from combining.

    Paramount CEO David Ellison has questioned the states’ motivations and suggested that political concerns surrounding CNN, which is part of Warner Bros. Discovery, have played a role in opposition to the transaction.

    Bonta rejects that explanation. He argues that the lawsuit centers on what would happen to competition if two major Hollywood studios and television programmers became a single company.

    The states filed their challenge in July, alleging that the acquisition could reduce competition in theatrical film distribution and television programming. The case came after the U.S. Department of Justice cleared the transaction in June.

    California estimates that Paramount and Warner Bros. together would represent about 27% of the market for wide-release theatrical films. The attorney general’s office has also said the companies would account for more than 30% of anticipated blockbuster releases.

    Regulators are separately concerned about television programming. Warner Bros. and Paramount are major licensors of basic cable channels, and California estimates that the combined company would hold roughly 27% of that market.

    Those figures form a central part of the states’ argument that the transaction could leave fewer companies competing for audiences, theater screens and distribution agreements.

    Related: UK Clears Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal, Leaving US Antitrust Challenge as Key Hurdle

    Paramount sees the entertainment market differently. The company has argued that traditional studios now compete in a much broader landscape shaped by streaming platforms and changing viewing habits.

    The company has also offered commitments aimed at addressing concerns about movie theaters, including plans for at least 30 theatrical releases annually for three years following completion of the transaction.

    Bonta has remained unconvinced, maintaining that such commitments do not eliminate the structural competition concerns raised by combining Paramount and Warner Bros.

    The disagreement is now set to play out in federal court. A trial is scheduled for March 2027, and Paramount has agreed not to complete the acquisition until June 1, 2027, or until the court rules on the states’ challenge under the parties’ arrangement.

    Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington have joined California in challenging the deal.

    The case creates an unusual divide in merger enforcement: federal antitrust authorities have allowed the transaction to proceed, while a coalition of states is independently attempting to stop it.

    For Paramount and Warner Bros., the outcome could determine whether one of the largest media combinations in recent years reaches the finish line. For the states, the coming trial will test whether their concerns about consolidation in Hollywood are enough to prevent the $110 billion deal from closing.

    Source: Washington Examiner