warner bros

CNN, already jostled by a series of corporate turnovers, faces a hazy future after Paramount won its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery

Free speech and media advocacy groups urged a judge to block a California settlement with Paramount Skydance that would let the company finalize its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. Twelve states led by California sued to block the deal in July and were able to delay it when US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled that Paramount combining with Warner Bros. would likely reduce competition substantially and violate antitrust laws. Despite that initial victory, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement with Paramount earlier this week and the other states involved in the lawsuit signed on to the deal. Martínez-Olguín must decide whether to approve the settlement. A coalition of free speech and media advocacy groups told the judge in a filing yesterday that the deal will give residents of the states that sued Paramount "virtually nothing." The filing was submitted by the Committee for the First Amendment, Free Press, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Future Film Coalition, and International Documentary Association. Read full article Comments

Paramount has reached a settlement with California and the 11 other states that sued to block its planned $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The settlement removes a major roadblock standing in the way of the massive media merger. According to the proposed consent decree filed with the court, it includes requirements like minimum numbers of theatrical film releases over the next five years, starting with 30 in year one and two, and 32 in the following years, and a commitment to spend at least $300 million more on production in the US compared to what the companies spent in 2025. It also has rules for the negotiations over … Read the full story at The Verge.