{"id":294849,"date":"2026-07-13T21:04:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T21:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/294849\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T21:04:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T21:04:41","slug":"new-york-and-11-states-file-lawsuit-seeking-to-stop-110-billion-media-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/294849\/","title":{"rendered":"New York and 11 states file lawsuit seeking to stop $110 billion media merger"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (WBNG) — New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 11 other attorneys general filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a proposed $110 billion merger<\/a> between Paramount Skydance Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery. <\/p>\n

The coalition argues the deal would unlawfully reduce competition across the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n

In the complaint, the attorneys general say Paramount\u2019s acquisition would unite two of Hollywood\u2019s five major film studios and two of the five major basic cable companies, creating a powerful new media giant. <\/p>\n

They argue that kind of consolidation could reshape markets for theatrical film releases and basic cable programming.<\/p>\n

For over a century, Paramount and Warner Bros. have competed to create movies and television that bring people together, inspire and sustain generations of artists, and help us understand the world. This merger would destroy that competition, creating a massive company with unprecedented power and influence over news and entertainment across the globe. Paramount\u2019s acquisition of Warner Bros. threatens to raise costs for consumers and put jobs and businesses nationwide at risk. I thank my fellow attorneys general for joining this effort to uphold the law and block this merger.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit points to the long history of competition between the companies and their well-known franchises and major television holdings. The attorneys general say that competition has helped drive investment and output across the industry for decades.<\/p>\n

The proposed agreement was reached on Feb. 27, 2026, and the coalition claims it would further concentrate control of theatrical releases and cable programming among a small number of companies. They also argue it would place major news outlets and sports rights under the same corporate umbrella.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges the merger would violate antitrust law by weakening competition in key markets, including widely released films and basic cable television. <\/p>\n

The coalition says a larger Paramount could demand more favorable deals from theaters and distributors, leaving consumers paying more and theaters with fewer resources to improve the moviegoing experience.<\/p>\n

The attorneys general also argue the combined company could cut back on content spending, pointing to statements to investors about \u201ccontent spending reductions\u201d being part of merger \u201csynergies.\u201d<\/p>\n

They say those reductions could mean fewer projects, fewer jobs, and fewer opportunities for independent creators and production businesses.<\/p>\n

The coalition is asking a court to declare the merger illegal under the Clayton Act and block the companies from completing the deal. <\/p>\n

The lawsuit was joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.<\/p>\n

Please click here<\/a> for more information on the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WBNG. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (WBNG) — New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 11 other attorneys general…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-294849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}