re: Paramount and California AG Bonta Have Officially Settled

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Establishing a third-party, independent board to oversee CNN and CBS News in order to maintain the news outlets’ editorial independence

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still, though.

Paramount establishes it?

Only the blue states?

how much authority will they actually have?

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David Ellison has told Paramount staffers that he plans to close its deal to acquire Warner Bros. “in approximately two weeks”:

• “That said, closing is really just the starting line,” Ellison said in the staff memo. “Bringing two companies this size together takes time, and we’ll share information as it becomes available.”

• The mood is celebratory on the Paramount lot, insiders said, despite the fact that most of Hollywood is observing Yom Kippur (the most reverent of the Jewish High Holy Days). One source joked that several of Ellison’s top lieutenants will be making “guilt donations” to select charities for working through the day.

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After reading Bonta's press release, this looks like a total cave by California.

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An Annual Film Release Commitment: Paramount has agreed to a five-year term, where the merged company will commit to release:

30 films a year — including 20 wide releases — in the first two years.
32 films a year — with 21 wide releases — in years three, four, and five.
Paramount commits to release at least four independent films in each year of the commitment period.

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Everything above is essentially nothing wrapped up to make it look like Bonta actually did something. A quick web search tells me WBD released 12 major theatrical releases in 2025, and Paramount released 17. In 2026, WBD will have released 14 and Paramount will have released 10. Essentially, this says "the merged company will continue to do what it's already doing and already planned to do."

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Domestic Production: Paramount has agreed to bolster the merged company’s U.S. film production and spend an at least additional $1.5 billion over five years over its 2025 U.S. spending levels. Importantly, this is a baseline. Right now, around 5% of all of Paramount’s production is in the U.S. If a federal film tax credit of at least 20% is passed, production in the U.S. would need to increase to be 20% of all film production for years one and two and at least 30% of all film production for the remaining years. If, in addition to a federal tax credit, a more expansive state film tax credit is also passed in either California or New York, then production investment would need to increase to at least 40% of all film production being in the U.S instead of overseas.

In the next legislative session, Attorney General Bonta will be working closely with the legislature to uncap the California Film and Television Tax Credit in order to strengthen California’s competitiveness, encourage productions to spend and hire more in the state, and support jobs and businesses across the state.

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This reads more like a concession by the State for tax credits than a concession by Paramount.

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Independent Film Fund: The merged company will form and operate a fund for purchasing independent films and will make an annual contribution of $5 million per year, for a total of $25 million.

Protections for Workers: The merged company will commit $47.5 million in a Workforce Fund over five years for training and career development for workers who are displaced by the merger. The merged company must also honor previously established collective bargaining agreements and bargain in good faith with unions in years to come.

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These numbers are chump change for a company this size. $72.5M over 5 years? Seriously, who cares?

Plus, the merged company wasn't going to be breaking collective bargaining agreements or stop dealing with unions. How could you possibly operate in the entertainment space without dealing with unions?

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Cable Agreements: For five years, the merged company must conduct negotiations for Paramount basic cable channels independently from negotiations for Warner Bros. basic cable channels, preserving the existing competitive dynamic between the companies. Preserving competition helps to keep prices down for consumers. The merged company also must continue to offer a free streaming service, like Pluto TV, and maintain its current service and quality.

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I don't care about cable, so I have no idea what this is supposed to mean or why I should care about any of this. If they're trying to say the new company can't merge superfluous positions, which could be implied by the word "negotiations," it definitely won't be helping consumers see lower prices.

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the company agrees to a News Editorial Independence Board to help CNN and CBS maintain editorial independence.

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Depending on what this looks like, this is the only real thing this agreement does (based solely on Bonta's press release). If Paramount gets to assign this board, this is effectively meaningless. Also, if Paramount isn't required to take any of the Board's recommendations, it's even more useless.

This all seems very Trumpian from Bonta

He is running a victory lap for agreeing to the things Paramount offered, like 4 months ago.

Except the board thing

Reminds one of Trump celebrating re-opening the Strait of Hormuz. . .which was open before he started bombing

Bonta and Trump: WE WON! WE GOT BACK TO THE ORIGINAL DEAL WE WERE OFFERED !!!!

So how much media after this does the Ellison family own in this country?

30%, 60%, or what % ?

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The usual conservative ideologues will disagree,

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A giant frick you to the American public from the Clinton administration

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Um….

Now the picture's really becoming clear. They didn't want Elon having control of CNN.

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Wow

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The usual conservative ideologues will disagree, but I remember life before we allowed all of the telecommunication companies to consolidate. It was better.

A giant frick you to the American public from the Clinton administration that doesn’t get talked about much.

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The relaxing of anti-trust enforcement began before the 90s. The 80s were kind of well known for large M&A transactions.

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Mere hours before a court hearing on the much criticized settlement between Paramount and a coalition of blue state Attorneys General on the $111 billion merger with Warner Bros Discovery, ParaBros foes have gained a victory that could see an expensive delay on the deal closing.

The Court GRANTS the administrative motions to file amicus briefs,” U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin just ruled on Block the Merger‘s Administrative Motion to Set Schedule for Amicus Briefing on Proposed Consent Decree filed earlier today. “All amicus briefs must be filed on the docket by no later than 12:01 a.m. PST on September 25, 2026. This deadline will not be extended, and tardy submissions will not be considered.”

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