Judge Weighs Lifting Block on Paramount’s $110 Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
Updated
Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Sep 23
Judge Weighs Lifting Block on Paramount’s $110 Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
3 articles · Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Sep 23
Summary
Thursday’s hearing will decide whether to dissolve the July order barring Paramount from closing its $110-a-share acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery after the states and company settled over the weekend.
Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin said she wants answers on the factual and legal basis for the proposed consent decree and how the five-year operating agreement would be implemented.
The settlement avoids immediate divestitures but requires 30 theatrical releases annually for two years, then 32 for three more, while keeping basic-cable negotiations separate and creating a five-member editorial board for CBS News and CNN.
The court would retain oversight through an independent monitor and state attorneys general, with penalties for breaches and possible forced sales of assets such as Miramax or cable channels including BET, VH1 and Comedy Central.
Critics say the deal still does too little to protect CNN’s editorial independence, underscoring broader concerns about media concentration under the combined company.