GoKawiilAdvocacy groups ask judge to reject California-Paramount Skydance/WBD settlement
A coalition including Free Press, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Committee for the First Amendment filed a court brief arguing that California's settlement with Paramount Skydance over its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery offers the public 'virtually nothing.' The filing asks Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who had earlier found the deal likely to substantially reduce competition, to reject the settlement that California Attorney General Rob Bonta and eleven other states agreed to this week. The League of United Latin American Citizens raised similar objections in a separate filing.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The groups' filing highlights an apparent contradiction: Bonta himself reportedly criticized behavioral remedies like content quotas as weak enforcement tools before agreeing to a settlement built on similar conditions, which could undercut confidence in the deal's safeguards. If the judge sides with the critics, it could delay or reshape the merger further, reinforcing broader concerns about how effectively conduct-based antitrust remedies can prevent reduced competition in media markets.
- Media advocacy groups filed a brief opposing California's settlement with Paramount Skydance over its WBD merger.
- The filing notes AG Bonta previously called similar behavioral remedies weak enforcement tools before agreeing to the deal.
- Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who earlier found antitrust concerns credible, must now decide whether to approve the settlement.
Source: arstechnica.com, 2026-09-25
Published there as: “Paramount/WBD merger conditions give the public "virtually nothing," judge is told”
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