California · New York · Engadget
State AGs sue to block the Paramount-Warner Bros
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◎ Multiple-sources
A dozen attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit to stop the merger, which the Department of Justice approved in June.
Key facts
- Update, July 13, 2026, 1:50PM ET: Added a statement from Paramount
- The AGs, from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington, filed the suit a month after the Department
- At the end of March, WBD had more than 140 million streaming subscribers globally and Paramount+ had 79.6 million
- At the end of June 2025, Disney+ and Hulu had a combined 183 million subscribers
Summary
A dozen state attorneys general have filed an antitrust lawsuit in a bid to prevent Paramount from taking over Warner Bros. The suit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. "The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the US," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. Bonta's office noted that a combined Paramount and WBD (which are two of the five biggest film distributors) would account for a 27 percent share of the "wide-release theatrical distribution" market.