Paramount’s U.K. Concessions Give ‘Powerful Credibility’ to State AGs’ Lawsuit, Block the Merger Coalition Says: ‘The Dangers’ in U.S. Market ‘Are Unmistakable’

A coalition group campaigning against the proposed merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery has said the U.K.’s approval of the merger after obtaining “major concessions” lends “powerful credibility” to the pending legal case in the U.S.

Earlier this week the U.K. confirmed the merger had received necessary approval to proceed after Paramount beefed up promises about programming ⁠and news provision in the country. These include not consolidating the group’s linear channels with on-demand services, ensuring Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network have distinct editorial staff and identities and maintaining Channel 5 News’ editorial independence.

Following the concessions, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority, media regulator Ofcom and secretary of state for culture, media and sport Lisa Nandy gave their approval to the merger.

In the U.S, however, Paramount is facing an antitrust showdown against California attorney general Rob Bonta and a coalition of 11 other state AGs. The case is set to be heard next March.

Block the Merger, which is made up of a number of groups opposing the $111 billion deal as well as celebrities such as Benedict Cumberbatch, said: “U.K. Secretary Nandy’s ability to obtain major concessions from Paramount lends powerful credibility to the case 12 state attorneys general have brought here in the U.S. If this merger required binding remedies even in the U.K., where Paramount and Warner hold a far weaker market position and the CMA has grown reluctant to block big mergers, the dangers in the more concentrated U.S. market are unmistakable. Here, the deal would unite two of the top three basic cable programmers and create exactly the anti-competitive, anti-consumer, and anti-creator harms our antitrust laws guard against.”