Paramount Settles Antitrust Case, Clears Path to Warner Bros. Merger
Paramount and a group of states have settled the antitrust lawsuit blocking its $111 billion plan to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing the last major hurdle to a mega-merger that would combine Paramount’s studio, CNN, CBS News, HBO and streaming services. Concessions include an editorial-independence board for CNN and CBS News, a commitment to release about 30 films in theaters each year, and $1.5 billion more in film production over five years, formalized in a consent decree awaiting court approval; Paramount would also face a $7 million-per-day break fee if the deal fails to close by Oct. 1. Labor groups remain divided over the deal’s implications for competition and editorial independence.