Block the Merger Coalition Says Paramount’s Concessions to Win UK Approval Lend Credibility to US Antitrust Case
"The Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger is a dangerous consolidation that will harm film, entertainment and independent press in markets around the world," the group writes The post Block the Merger Coalition Says Paramount’s Concessions to Win UK Approval Lend Credibility to US Antitrust Case appeared first on TheWrap .
Just a day after the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority approved the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, the coalition Block the Merger is once again expressing concerns about the $110 billion deal's potential negative impact. The group highlighted U.K. Secretary Nandy's ability to secure concessions from Paramount, which lends significant weight to the multiple cases brought forward by 12 state attorneys general in the United States.
The Block the Merger coalition emphasized that if this merger necessitated binding remedies in the UK – where Paramount and Warner hold a weaker market position and the CMA has become less inclined to block large mergers – the dangers in the US market are more evident. The merger would unite two of the top three basic cable programmers, potentially causing anti-competitive, anti-consumer, and anti-creator harm.
While the coalition praised Paramount's concessions on fair access to CNN, CBS, and Channel 5 archives, and promises not to consolidate certain elements of their business, they stressed that these agreements are not a comprehensive solution. They noted that the state AGs' suit indicates that the merger is unlawful under U.S. antitrust standards, but warned that even legally binding concessions may be challenging to enforce in practice.
This response follows U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s decision not to intervene after Paramount CEO David Ellison agreed to several conditions, including keeping linear channels separate from streaming services, preserving editorial independence for news services and children's networks, and providing additional funding to Channel 5.
The combined entity would become the UK's largest distributor, but the CMA determined that Paramount-WBD would still face competition from major players like Universal, Disney, Sony, Netflix, Apple, Amazon's Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and ITVX. Despite this, the coalition remains confident that the dozen state attorneys general will prevail in their March 2027 lawsuit, aiming to fully block the merger.
A 12-day antitrust trial set to begin on March 2, 2027, at the request of the state AGs and the Writers Guild of America, has also triggered a daily fee of approximately $7 million for Paramount, totaling around $1.06 billion if the deal does not close due to regulatory issues. In the event that the merger does not go through due to regulatory matters, Paramount will pay Warner Bros. Discovery a $7 billion termination fee.
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