Overview
- Lawmakers from Congress and the European Parliament told CEO David Ellison the proposed $110–$111 billion takeover must clear rigorous EU and US reviews that assess competition risks, media pluralism, and the role of foreign sovereign investors.
- Paramount’s chief legal officer Makan Delrahim, in a May 7 letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, pledged at least 30 theatrical releases a year with minimum 45‑day windows and argued the combined company needs scale to compete with Netflix, Disney, and Amazon.
- California’s attorney general said he sees red flags and is weighing potential harms such as higher prices, lower wages, job cuts, and less choice, as Paramount also disclosed state subpoenas tied to the merger’s competitive effects.
- Warner Bros. Discovery executives sought to reassure advertisers at Upfronts that programming remains available as reviews continue, with shareholder approval secured and filings in place for foreign‑investment vetting even as federal and state regulators retain the power to challenge the deal.
- Paramount cites a roughly 10% combined share of US streaming viewership and about 25% of recent domestic box office, while thousands of creatives and consumer plaintiffs warn of fewer films and job losses and lawmakers question nearly $24 billion in Gulf sovereign‑wealth funding.