Paramount has agreed to tie the antitrust case from 12 states to an already existing case from Paramount+ subscribers who are also suing in an antitrust case, at the states’ request.
Paramount’s response to the request was filed Tuesday and says “Defendants Paramount Skydance Corporation and Skydance Media, LLC (together, “Paramount”) agree with the relief requested in the State of California’s Administrative Motion to Consider Whether Cases Should be Related, ECF No. 57, and respectfully join in the request for this Court to deem the action California v. Paramount Skydance Corp., No. 4:26-cv-07116, to be related to the action already pending this Court, Faust v. Paramount Skydance Corp., No. 4:26-cv-03790-AMO. Defendant in the California action, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., further joins in this response.”
The Paramount+ subscriber case is being handled by Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin. In that case, three Paramount+ subscribers and two others claim that they will face increased subscription costs due to less competition in the streaming industry if Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery goes through.
The new case, filed this week, saw 12 states (California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington) also arguing that the merger would greatly reduce competition, leading to higher prices for consumers and lower quality of content.
The merger has been dramatic from the start, with Paramount fighting Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, beginning in November 2025 when Netflix, Paramount, and Comcast all submitted nonbinding offers for all or part of the company. Netflix ultimately made a deal with WBD in December, but Paramount pushed WBD to reconsider, submitting a revised all-cash offer of $31 per share (compared to Netflix’s offer valued at $27.75 per share) for the entire company. In the end, Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to move forward with Paramount.
Since then, many individuals and groups have spoken out in opposition to the deal, including TV and film producers, the Writer’s Guild of America, streaming services, and now subscribers and individual states.