Paramount’s lawyers filed a legal response to the states’ antitrust lawsuit against the Warner Bros. Discovery merger on Friday, sketching out arguments and defenses it may use at a trial next March.
Among other defenses, Paramount’s lawyers said they may claim that the coalition of 12 states lacks the authority to regulate the merger, “which is vested in the U.S. Department of Justice.”
Paramount has repeatedly argued that the deal will be pro-competitive, and will result in more movies and TV shows.
“The way audiences consume content is changing rapidly. Streaming services now have greater viewership than movie theaters and cable television,” Paramount argues. “Plaintiffs’ case depends on ignoring this reality. It involves a series of gerrymandered markets based on cherry-picked data from the past. The alleged markets are not the product of sound economic analysis or current market realities. They have been invented for one purpose and one purpose only: to trigger a presumption — any presumption, no matter how weak — in the hopes the Court will look no further.”
The Writers Guild of America has filed its own lawsuit arguing that the merger will reduce the marketplace for writers’ work. That case is set to be heard alongside the states’ challenge at trial on March 2, 2027.
Paramount has agreed not to close the deal until a ruling is issued after the trial — though it is asking the court to require the plaintiffs to post a $1.88 billion bond as the price of continuing the litigation. A judge is set to hear arguments on that request on Sept. 24.
Meanwhile, a court will hold a two-day settlement conference in the antitrust case with the parties in late October. That’s a standard part of civil procedure and does not indicate whether a deal is in the offing.
