| Attorney General Bonta Caves to Pressure from Billionaires and Gavin Newsom, Paves Way for Disastrous Paramount-Warner Bros. Mega-Merger According to Bloomberg on Monday, California State Attorney General Rob Bonta and other state attorneys general have reached a settlement of their antitrust lawsuit against Paramount Skydance's $111 billion takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. According to the report, the settlement creates a nominally independent editorial board to oversee CNN and CBS, and makes promises on the output of the combined studios' movie production. Bloomberg does not report any divestitures of the merged companies' massive cable channel portfolio. These minor concessions are largely unenforceable behavioral remedies that Bonta had previously denounced, and in some cases promise less than the two companies are already doing as standalone competitors. They came after Paramount owner David Ellison made multiple threats to move the studio out of California unless the attorneys general dropped their lawsuit. Previously, Bonta had maintained he'd only accept structural remedies, which block the merger or involve companies selling off significant parts of the combined businesses. In August, California Governor Gavin Newsom indicated that he'd like Bonta to settle the case, despite growing public concern over the many harms such a deal would bring: widespread entertainment industry layoffs, spiraling consumer costs and increa |
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At www.commondreams.org from Common Dreams
At www.commondreams.org from Common Dreams
