STATEWIDE — NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL Letitia James on Monday joined 11 other attorneys general to sue Paramount Skydance Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., two of the nation’s largest media companies, hoping to block a proposed $110 billion merger which would combine two of Hollywood’s most influential film studios and two major cable companies. According to the AGs, the merger would violate the Clayton Antitrust Act by undermining competition in markets for basic cable and theatrical film, leading to fewer and less diverse entertainment releases and news, higher prices for movie and cable, and job losses for thousands.
The century-long competition between Paramount and Warner Bros. has yielded some of the nation’s most popular and critically acclaimed films and franchises, James said in a release. The proposed merger would destroy that competition, “creating a massive company with unprecedented power and influence over news and entertainment across the globe.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a post on social media that the merger would hurt New York workers who helped build the entertainment and cable industries. “This is not a merger that serves the public,” he said.
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