WGA Sues to Block $110.9 Billion Paramount Skydance Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Times · Aug 22
WGA Sues to Block $110.9 Billion Paramount Skydance Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Aug 22
Summary
The Writers Guild of America East and West said they filed suit last month to stop Paramount Skydance’s proposed takeover, arguing the merger would unlawfully concentrate buying power over film and TV writing jobs.
At the center of the case is market share: the guild says the combined company would control 35% of writing for big-budget theatrical films and become the largest employer of episodic TV writers and overall deals.
The unions reject Paramount’s claim that studios compete broadly for “screen time” with platforms like YouTube and TikTok, saying writers sell scripts into a much narrower market where each studio merger removes a bidder.
The challenge also leans on past consolidation, citing Disney’s $71.3 billion Fox deal and Warner Bros.-Discovery’s 2022 merger as examples that led to fewer releases, layoffs, write-downs and canceled projects.
The lawsuit adds to broader antitrust pressure on a deal that state attorneys general have also targeted, warning it would leave Paramount with 30% of top-grossing film distribution and three distributors controlling 75% of wide releases.