Paramount Skydance 'Emerges Victorious', Finally Wins Settlement for Warner Bros Takeover (yahoo.com) 85
Paramount Skydance just "emerged victorious" reports Reuters, "from a legal battle over its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery" that will "dramatically concentrate power across Hollywood's film, TV, streaming and news businesses."
The victory comes "after settling with a California-led group of US states and a Hollywood writers union, paving the way for one of the largest media mergers in history." Paramount agreed to abide by temporary film quotas and a news oversight committee, avoiding a forced sale of cable assets such as CNN or any of its lucrative film franchises... The Writers Guild of America settled its parallel case against Paramount, while saying it still believes the deal will damage the industry. The states' settlement forced the union to "contend with the reality of forging ahead alone, with no backing from government enforcers" in a complex case that would have cost millions of dollars...
Paramount promised in the state settlement to bring more film production to the US — spending at least $300 million more each year in domestic production — and adhere to US theatrical release quotas for five years. The company will produce 30 movies in each of the first two years of the deal, and 32 movies in each of the following three years, Bonta said. Each year, at least four of those films must be independent films and at least 20% must be blockbusters. If it falls below that threshold, it will pay $30 million per film, most of it into funds to support workers. Paramount also promised not to raise rates on theater operators for three years.
The article notes that California attorney general Rob Bonta still said "I don't think these two companies should merge" at a press conference announcing the settlement, "but that's not something that we are focused on with our resolution here." He call their agreement "a strong antitrust outcome."
And Politico notes that Bonta acknowledged at the press conference that "Some of you who may be watching this may have wanted a different outcome. I understand that." But he argued he'd reached a settlement capable of "providing more film production that protects Hollywood workers and their livelihoods, that places guardrails allowing for robust cable negotiations, that protects competition and creates more choice for consumers about what this merger could mean for the industry." It "resolves the antitrust concerns at the heart of our lawsuit against the company and Warner Brothers," he said...
The agreement came as a disappointment to opponents of the transaction, including the Block the Merger Coalition, which cast the settlement as a sweetheart deal for Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison and his father, Oracle Co-Founder Larry Ellison, who is financially backstopping the acquisition. "This is a bad deal for the future of film, entertainment, independent journalism, and a strong democracy in this country," the coalition said in a statement. "We are disappointed and angry that the interests of average Americans have been trampled to benefit oligarch billionaires....."
The $111 billion deal allows Paramount to combine its namesake streaming service with HBO Max, creating a new offering with about 200 million subscribers. That would help Paramount compete against companies such as Netflix, which boasts more than 325 million subscribers worldwide.
The victory comes "after settling with a California-led group of US states and a Hollywood writers union, paving the way for one of the largest media mergers in history." Paramount agreed to abide by temporary film quotas and a news oversight committee, avoiding a forced sale of cable assets such as CNN or any of its lucrative film franchises... The Writers Guild of America settled its parallel case against Paramount, while saying it still believes the deal will damage the industry. The states' settlement forced the union to "contend with the reality of forging ahead alone, with no backing from government enforcers" in a complex case that would have cost millions of dollars...
Paramount promised in the state settlement to bring more film production to the US — spending at least $300 million more each year in domestic production — and adhere to US theatrical release quotas for five years. The company will produce 30 movies in each of the first two years of the deal, and 32 movies in each of the following three years, Bonta said. Each year, at least four of those films must be independent films and at least 20% must be blockbusters. If it falls below that threshold, it will pay $30 million per film, most of it into funds to support workers. Paramount also promised not to raise rates on theater operators for three years.
The article notes that California attorney general Rob Bonta still said "I don't think these two companies should merge" at a press conference announcing the settlement, "but that's not something that we are focused on with our resolution here." He call their agreement "a strong antitrust outcome."
And Politico notes that Bonta acknowledged at the press conference that "Some of you who may be watching this may have wanted a different outcome. I understand that." But he argued he'd reached a settlement capable of "providing more film production that protects Hollywood workers and their livelihoods, that places guardrails allowing for robust cable negotiations, that protects competition and creates more choice for consumers about what this merger could mean for the industry." It "resolves the antitrust concerns at the heart of our lawsuit against the company and Warner Brothers," he said...
The agreement came as a disappointment to opponents of the transaction, including the Block the Merger Coalition, which cast the settlement as a sweetheart deal for Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison and his father, Oracle Co-Founder Larry Ellison, who is financially backstopping the acquisition. "This is a bad deal for the future of film, entertainment, independent journalism, and a strong democracy in this country," the coalition said in a statement. "We are disappointed and angry that the interests of average Americans have been trampled to benefit oligarch billionaires....."
The $111 billion deal allows Paramount to combine its namesake streaming service with HBO Max, creating a new offering with about 200 million subscribers. That would help Paramount compete against companies such as Netflix, which boasts more than 325 million subscribers worldwide.
Oh good (Score:3, Funny)
Surely this will lead to better outcomes for the consumer, right? RIGHT?
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Two sock puppets working overtime for this post!
Re: Yes (Score:2)
You misspelled reich
Re:Yes (Score:5, Informative)
California has been on the verge of a mass exodus of businesses for decades. Occasionally one is daft enough to try it, and realizes that the grass isn't really greener. Musk is one of the most recent, having incorporated some business and moved some management stuff out of California, just enough to claim he did it without actually doing it. Meanwhile California continues to be the richest state by a mile.
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Imagine running any kind of business with demographic quotas instead of the specific people you know you can do the job
Yes, in California you have to imagine this because demographic quotas are illegal for hiring in California. And having a racially diverse workforce in California is easy, since some 66% of the people who live there are non-white.
Ask any fire survivor what it's like to build a house in LA these days
Should they be allowed to re-build these homes with kindling, so it easily burns in two years when the next fire sweeps through, leaving the government and charitable people to foot the bill once again for the cleanup and replacement? Or, I don't know, should rebuilt homes be requi
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I mean, it's possible...
In that Paramount Skydance is a heavily leveraged company whose debt rating is in junk territory, with a debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 4-5x, and we're entering a period of monetary tightening, while it has been loading itself up with "traditional media" forms in a time of shifting viewership trends. Aka, if Paramount Skydance ends up going bankrupt and its assets get sold off...
Then, and only then, might it lead to better outcomes for the consumer. Barring that? No.
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Then, and only then, might it lead to better outcomes for the consumer.
Except still not. Major bankruptcies do not result in business resources disappearing into the aeather, they result in sell-offs of individual components of the business to companies who think are in the best position to profit from them and do so in a fair manner instead of consolidating the entire mass of two businesses into one superpower. That superpower has its own agenda resulting in a loss of significant content from consumers which would otherwise potentially be bought up by smaller or different med
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Surely this will lead to better outcomes for the consumer, right? RIGHT?
At least it's just entertainment *shrug*. I'm fine with just re-watching from the back catalog if they don't produce anything good, and if they raise prices on content that actually is otherwise decently entertaining - I'll raise the Jolly Roger. Really, when it comes to companies getting all late stagey with the capitalism, movie studios aren't what you need to worry about.
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At least it's just entertainment *shrug*.
Well no, it's not just entertainment. News is in the deal also, specifically CBS and CNN.
Many had fears the Ellisons' takeover would change the editorial sland of CNN. But perhaps this might not happen. Per TFA:
Under the settlement terms, Paramount will establish a news editorial independence board to ensure independence at the CBS and CNN networks.
So ... we'll see.
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editorial sland
Oops. make that slant.
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Greetings time traveler from the mid 19th century! Feel free to look around and don't forget to check out powered flight!
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Well if they even just brought CBS and CNN more towards center and away from left...that might even things up more....the left will still have NBC, ABC, MSNOW (or whatever they go by now) and most of the major news papers and other new sources.
A bit more balance would be nice.
Re: Oh good (Score:2)
Haahahahahahaha you think centrists are leftists.
You seem to know literally nothing
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Paramount promised in the state settlement to bring more film production to the US â" spending at least $300 million more each year in domestic production â" and adhere to US theatrical release quotas for five years.
Hollywood accounting will take care of the former, meaning they'll spend $0 more but the books will show $300 million, and whatever the quotas are will be fiddled in a similar manner. So overall they got everything and gave up nothing.
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Surely this will lead to better outcomes for the consumer, right? RIGHT?
It could be worse, Consumer.
This is pretty much the last media company Disney doesn't own... although it is owned by Larry Ellison so it's not really that much better.
Remember to consume mindlessly Consumer, and it can get worse, it can always get worse.
NO one thinks this merger is a good idea.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:NO one thinks this merger is a good idea.... (Score:4, Informative)
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Paramount probably won't move as a condition of the settlement.
Re:NO one thinks this merger is a good idea.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Every single time we suggest that companies stop screwing us over we inevitably get told that they will just take all the money and leave. Then they don't do that because the only reason they're here in the first place is some other thing like well, California is a nice place to live and the people who they need to work for them want to live in california, and then they don't leave even though they threatened to.
If there is a cheaper place with less regulation that a company can move to and still have the same resources available they're always going to do that immediately and no amount of appeasement is going to keep them around. More importantly if they're not contributing anything to your community and they are just taking let them leave.
There is plenty of other things people can do in California that are productive besides make movies. But again that's all a moot point because they're not going anywhere no matter how many threats they make.
I mean not physically. Like I said they might try to incorporate in another state in order to do bad things to people but who cares again because they are still going to have to hire Californians because the people they want to do the work want to live in California.
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It's not wishful thinking it's history and common Sense. If you want such a goddamn pussy you would stop letting the wealthy push you around and stop worshiping people who hate you like Elon Musk and Don
Re: NO one thinks this merger is a good idea.... (Score:2)
You can only abuse people so long, which is why all of these people want to live in California and not some shithole red state full of people who think mayo is spicy
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"Paramount said it will spend $1.5 billion over five years, or $300 million a year â" on top of what it spent in 2025 on filming domestically. According to the state attorneys general, currently only about 5% of Paramount's production is in the U.S."
"Paramount has said it would look for ways to save some $6 billion through job cuts in âoeduplicative operationsâ when the deal goes through."
https://www.barchart.com/story... [barchart.com]
Most production is already gone from California, for a while now. Yeah,
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Re:NO one thinks this merger is a good idea.... (Score:5, Interesting)
"They can't move to Nashville because the actors won't move with them. They can incorporate in Nashville but who the fuck cares anymore? If you're not going to pay taxes in my state why would I care whether you incorporate in my state? "
There's so much wrong with that sentence, and yet it pretty much sums up why California lost hundreds of millions of dollars of production to other states (and countries), because the politicians in California believed the same thing until it was too late. It's the myth of American exceptionalism but applied specifically to California.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
"By 2025, the cost of filming in California was so high relative to other jurisdictions that it was cheaper to fly Rob Lowe all the way to Dublin, Ireland and back to host the game show The Floor, along with 100 American contestants, than to simply film the show in California.[19] About that, Lowe said: "Itâ(TM)s criminal what California and L.A. have let happen â" itâ(TM)s criminal. Everybody should be fired.'"[19]
A side effect of outsourcing film and television work is that fewer apprenticeships are available to the next generation of California filmmakers. This is slowly eroding the concentration of experience and know-how which had made Hollywood unique.[8] As show business jobs continued to evaporate steadily during the 2020s, Los Angeles was widely seen at risk of becoming the next Detroit.[19] The January 2025 wildfires pushed many filmmaking professionals to their breaking point.[19] Financially, it made more sense for many of them to move to the places where their jobs had gone, than to try to stay and rebuild.[19]"
To give a specific example of another city in the US that has become a major film power house - Atlanta:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
"Trilith Studios is an American film and television production studio located south of Atlanta in Fayette County, Georgia. Originally known as Pinewood Atlanta Studios, the studio has been used to produce many films and television programs, particularly those produced by Marvel Studios. Trilith Studios encompasses a 700-acre site, with a 400-acre backlot and 32 soundstages.[1] A virtual production volume, Prysm Stage, opened in early 2022. As of 2024, Trilith Studios is the largest production facility in the state of Georgia and the largest outside of Hollywood."
Atlanta is only a day's away by plane from Los Angeles. Same thing with New York. I know people in the film industry who commute outside of LA to work for months at a time (because even though they'd rather work close to home... there's no work here.) It's not like this is a new thing - think about it - how else do you shoot on location?
But even Atlanta is feeling the pinch as production moves overseas these days.
"The first production to film at the studio was Marvel Studios' film Ant-Man (2015), which began in September 2014.[5][6] Marvel primarily shot their films at the facility for nearly a decade until 2025, where they changed their primary filming location to London."
https://cinedrones.com/updates... [cinedrones.com]
"On July 2, 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill increasing Californiaâ(TM)s Film and Television Tax Credit Program from $330 million to $750 million annually, a significant step aimed at luring productions back to the Golden State. The legislation, hailed as a lifeline for an industry battered by a âoequadruple-whammyâ of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2023 writersâ(TM) and actorsâ(TM) strikes, Southern California wildfires and fierce competition from other regions, is projected to generate thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity. Yet, industry insiders and data suggest this boost may be too little, too late, as Los Angeles continues to lose its grip on film and TV production.
According to FilmLA, the film office for Los Angeles, shoot days in the region plummeted to 5,048 in the third quarter of 2024, marking the weakest quarter of the year and a 22.4% drop from the same period in 2023. Overall, 2024 saw just 23,480 shoot days, the second-lowest figure recorded outside the pandemic-stricken 2020. Since 2022, California has lost an estimated 17,000 entertainment jobs, with the stateâ(TM)s share of national film and TV employment dropping from 35% to 27%. These numbers paint a stark picture: Hollywood is bleeding, and the new tax credits may not be enough to stop the exodus."
You're clearly not in tune with the local news here. Film production is way down. Studios are essentially banks, and have been for decades - they package deals and get financing. The days of the studio system ended half a century ago. There are equally nice places outside of California (Vancouver, B.C. being one of them) that have successfully doubled for shooting locations in the US, and yes, they have union crews there.
Finally, you make it sound like studios don't pay taxes. Regardless of the financial accounting tricks they play (like killing already completed movies), I'll tell you the guaranteed taxes they do pay: payroll taxes for all the hourly and salaried employees that are working in the state, which covers medicare, social security, and state unemployment insurance.
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Every single time we suggest that companies stop screwing us over we inevitably get told that they will just take all the money and leave. Then they don't do that because the only reason they're here in the first place is some other thing like well, California is a nice place to live and the people who they need to work for them want to live in california, and then they don't leave even though they threatened to.
It was my understanding that the film industry wound up in California because of the year-round temperate climate and the wide variety of shooting locales. But I did some googling and learned that there was another reason: the industry wanted to avoid patents held by Thomas Edison on the east coast, which he and others used to exert control over movie-making. And California land was cheap at the time.
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Like I said they might try to incorporate in another state in order to do bad things to people
Do you ... ever have like a moment of non- black and white thinking?
Just a little nagging, uneasy feeling, that perhaps things and people are not all good or all bad?
Re:NO one thinks this merger is a good idea.... (Score:4, Informative)
What a great way to shit on working folks. The film industry employs more than just writers and actors. Don't forget about how many skilled trades are involved like carpenters and electricians. Then you have makeup and costume designers and even the craft services people providing food.
Doubt you really give a shit. (Score:2)
Re:Doubt you really give a shit. (Score:4, Insightful)
You and your pals are busy calling them Trumpers and trying to take their rights, increase their fuel costs,
Dear sir, have you checked diesel prices and who the current president is lately?
Re: Doubt you really give a shit. (Score:2)
As a far left radical cat hating bike riding commie hippie, I'd dearly love to increase everyone's fuel costs. Unfortunately it appears Trump got in on the act first so there isn't much left for me to do.
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All true, but it's all doomed anyway. AI is going to do it in from both ends. Up front it's going to take the jobs, and in the back it's going to take away the jobs and therefore the disposable income from the people who would see the films. This is just hurrying things up a little bit. California Uber Alles! We're just as greedy here as people are anywhere else.
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California isn't the reason movies suck. Studios run by MBAs with so little creative talent they couldn't draw files with cow shit (and they try, they call it "movies") are the reason movies suck. And all the big studios are run by MBAs.
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The enterprise of the film community has thrived in California for such a long time because it is liberal environment. There is room for individualism and inclusiveness, and this was true before DEI was ever a thing.
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Trump and friends probably wanted the Netflix buyout of WB to happen instead.
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On the plus side, it will save me $18.99/mo. I dropped Paramount+ months ago, and now I can say goodbye to HBO/Max. I can watch John Oliver and HIGNFY on Youtube.
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If Trump had promised to destroy hollywood, I would have voted for him 10x harder.
(And i expect I would be disappointed because he wouldn't actually follow through with it)
Anyway, hopefully, AI gets the job done and finally kills that wretched industry. I look forward to further democratization of movie making.
(fwiw, my knee jerk reaction is to oppose the merger.)
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Oh man that blockbuster starring Kevin Sorbo, Chachi from Happy Days, and the chick that tweeted herself out of The Mandalorian is surely happening.
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No. I think hollywood has always been subversive and run by foreign pedophiles. For example, look for the interview with Shirley Temple about what they tried doing to her as a _child_,
I think it has produced enough pro-American-MIC films every now and then to stay out of more government trouble.
You usually don't realize (at the time) that the media you watched as a child was subverting you (and your parents desires). And unless you revisit those films a generation later with a critical eye, you may not r
Re: NO one thinks this merger is a good idea.... (Score:2)
The federal government is being run by a foreign sponsored child rapist and you're all in on that, so don't expect any of us to take you seriously about your critique of Hollywood.
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Most of the world, including the EU, signed off on this deal. This is a global merger, not just a US thing.
This is a generational shift in the global entertainment industry, nothing more. It's happened several times over the past 100 years.
If you're so worried about a change in editorial policy at CNN and/or CBS, maybe learn to change the channel? ABC seems to be doing a good job defending themselves against the scary MAGA monsters. Or maybe subscribe to a newspaper or three? They sure could use the money t
Too high premium (Score:2)
Warner Bros market cap was 1/4th of Comcast and now it is valued at 1.25x Comcast. Not sure if it will ever make that much money. I would rather buy Comcast stock over Paramount.
Emerged victorious? (Score:2)
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There is no compromise here. The corporations won and they won again. Prices will go up and options will go down.
The basic problem here is every time the Democrat party tries to stop one of these ultra big mega mergers because they suck for consumers all the corporations have to do is hold out for a republican Congress and President and they can get it through.
And no matter how many time
forced concession? (Score:2)
Did Paramount's threat to leave Cali force this agreement to the table?
At least 20% must be blockbusters (Score:5, Insightful)
I understand that on the production side a blockbuster movie is a large-budget feature film for mass markets. But how do you guarantee massive popularity and huge financial success?
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It's only for five years, so none of it really matters.
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But how do you guarantee massive popularity and huge financial success?
Lately, that means dumping money into more films for a franchise where the horse hasn't entirely been beaten into an unrecognizable bloody pulp yet.
ai hollywood personas (Score:1)
Last Ronin Movie (Score:2)
Holy guacamole, Batman! (Score:1)
So Paramount now owns Batman? (and Superman, Justice League, and the rest)
AOL Time Warner all over again (Score:2)
Oh, you don't? (Score:1)
The article notes that California attorney general Rob Bonta still said "I don't think these two companies should merge"
Well, that's nice.
Fortunately, we're still a sorta free country, so they are doing it anyway. Regardless of what you think, commissar.
Re: Oh, you don't? (Score:2)
Yes, allowing more media consolidation to make the news media even less independent is surely going to increase freedom! Clown.
The good news (Score:2)
Is this may piss enough people off that we get more independent film and tv, and less remakes and superhero movies. The problem is the financing, and how bloated the industry has gotten. I think we need to rely now on students to make shoestring budget stuff and hopefully that encourages more independent financing. Publish it online only. The audience and tech are there.
adhere US theatrical release quotas for five years (Score:2)
Oh goodie. (Score:2)
Now they can do to Babylon 5 what they did to Star Trek.
Oh yeah. We are partying now.
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braindead idiots (Score:2)
Not even about the obvious monopoly problems. (Score:2)
On. the plus side... (Score:2)
My grandfathered-in HBO Max account was the last thing keeping me on AT&T. So now I can bail to T-Mobile for their more international-friendly plans and their willingness to actually support ALL of the new iPhone's features.
This is Gavin Newsom's Fault (Score:2)
The CA attorney general buckled because of pressure from Gavin Newsom (who is worried that falling employment levels in CA might damage his run for president in a few years).
Again GAVIN NEWSOM is to blame. When he runs for president in a few years, remember it was GAVIN NEWSOM who betrayed America and forced his attorney general to let the Paramount deal through. GAVIN NEWSOME.
Finally, we have conclusive proof... (Score:2)