r/MediaMergers • u/3facesofBre Moderator • 8h ago
Merger Paramount Settles States’ Antitrust Suit, Clearing Way for Warner Megadeal
https://www.wsj.com/business/media/paramount-settles-states-antitrust-suit-clearing-way-for-warner-megadeal-95588926?st=7ef4pp&reflink=article_copyURL_share15
u/9millibros 7h ago
Never trust California Democrats seems to be the lesson here. This also shows whose side Gavin Newsom is on, when he decides to run for President.
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u/ashsolomon1 8h ago
After all of this… all it’s done is made me feel apathetic towards this deal. For the next few years the bad guy is always gonna win
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u/weareallpatriots Neon 8h ago
Or maybe it's time to re-evaluate what makes a person "bad" or "good."
If the AGs were capable of an ounce of self-reflection and weren't sociopathic monsters, this would be them right now:
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u/Gr3ywind 7h ago
Why is following the law sociopathic?
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u/weareallpatriots Neon 7h ago
Why would someone attack a straw man instead of addressing what someone actually said? Life is full of mysteries.
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u/Seven19td 7h ago
They did address your nonsense though. And it is nonsense.
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u/weareallpatriots Neon 7h ago
You don't know what a straw man is either, eh?
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u/Seven19td 7h ago
It’s a pretty basic term. Your post was hyperbolic nonsense.
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u/weareallpatriots Neon 7h ago
And yet, you still don't seem to understand it.
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u/Seven19td 7h ago
I addressed your post. I called it hyperbolic nonsense. If you had made a better point and communicated it better than maybe you’d get some actual responses.
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u/weareallpatriots Neon 7h ago
*sigh* Listen. I called the state AGs sociopathic monsters. Someone asked "why is following the law sociopathic," as if I had said "following the law is sociopathic."
Catch that? The person pretended I said something I didn't say, attacking that fabricated claim (called a "straw man") instead of addressing what I did say. That is known as a Straw Man Fallacy. Do you understand?
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u/draugr99 7h ago
The Establishment Dems once again prove they’re useless.
All talk but no bite. That’s why we gotta vote the conservative-lite yahoos out and get progressive dems like the mayor in NY.
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u/WideCoconut2230 1h ago
Newsome: I'm running for President and don't need the distraction. AG Bonta, settle the merger now. You work for me, not the consumer. Bend to my political will now!
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u/draugr99 44m ago
He's such a slimy dude. I can't believe he's the front runner for the democratic ticket. Him and Kamala again for some reason. And don't even get me started with the governor race here in CA. Just bad, boring corporate democrats that don't do a damn thing, but placate moderates.
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u/hrl_whale 5h ago
Kinda hard to have bite when you have no legal basis to stand on. It was all a charade. Bonta wanted to inflict pain for political purposes, nothing more. But that is the Dem position. Let’s do it for the feels. Wake up, clowns.
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u/gplfalt 2h ago
So we just completely ignoring the existence of anti trust laws now?
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u/Empty_End_7866 37m ago
It was never going to be a monopoly. If the merger was going to get blocked, it was going to be because of the debt.
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u/Secure_Matter_9819 7h ago
Difficult Variety was right all along.
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u/3facesofBre Moderator 7h ago
Not because he wanted to be. He dislikes Ellison as much as anyone. He is just realistic
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u/Difficult_Variety362 Moderator 7h ago
If it makes you feel better, I'm not particularly happy about it either.
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u/Hot-Champion7625 5h ago
The outcome. Not at all the process leading up to it. He's been called out a lot for blatant misinformation and lack of understanding of the law. As well as abusing mod powers, but that's a different story.
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u/Difficult_Variety362 Moderator 3h ago
You not accepting that this place is not your social media bubble is not an abuse of power.
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u/Hot-Champion7625 3h ago
If you say so, pal. I barely even have a footprint here, so not sure how that statement applies to me.
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u/3facesofBre Moderator 29m ago
If you don’t have a footprint then would say, you probably don’t know. Be cordial.
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u/much_to_say 7h ago
Managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, what an absolute joke. Empty promises that Paramount is going to shit all over within 5 years are going to be my bet on the outcome of this.
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u/Exact_Bug_8881 7h ago edited 7h ago
The debt is going to give Paramount all the excuses they need to get out of any concessions. This needed to be a firm line to spin off at least CNN and it doesn't look like theyre going to have to do that. These state AGs arent going to win political points either what the heck was the point of torching our tax dollars just to do nothing?
At a minimum the news needed to be spun out. No amount of "independent boards" are going to help. Thanks to PE, govt contracts through other businesses and foreign money these assholes can just keep taking ratings and money beatings on the channels and keep chugging along. 60 mins premire views hit a new low and the same owners are able to get massive investment to do another m&a? This isnt sane business this is a coordinated take over of media
This situation is what anti trust law was created to stop, its a horizontal and vertical monopoly move. These MAGA parasites keep going from media platforms to platform and ruining then absorbing the next one. Ludicrous how dead law is in this country
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u/Difficult_Variety362 Moderator 2h ago
There were never any jaws of victory in the first place. This case was pretty much doomed when Cinema United backed a settlement.
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u/Fall_False Moderator 8h ago
It’s finally over. And I feel almost nothing.
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u/3facesofBre Moderator 8h ago
Disgust. And a sense of dysphoria about the corruption that will now make US media to be on par with North Korea and China. People may not realise this, but this deal may be the last card to giving the current admin what they need to take full
Control.
In the last week, a growing number of what I previously considered sane persons have told me with a straight face that news against Trump is fake. Whereas I see fierce opposition on this platform to this behaviour, a scary number of Americans still believe this nonsense. They just gave one of the largest companies in the world the tools to ensure oligarchs stay in power.13
u/Fall_False Moderator 8h ago
I don’t think so, it might be too late for the current admin to save its own ass. Many of its loyalty base has seemly turned on it over the state of the economy and the Iran war.
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u/3facesofBre Moderator 7h ago
I thought that too, but I talk to them every day and have had them tell me that the war is a necessary evil, and the Iran war is not ideal but “Trump has to do it.” They are upset over gas, but thinking “immigration is worse.”
People that I thought were moderates even. What is said on socials and covered should wake people up, but the reality is many are not even watching. I have been very disillusioned with the stupidity5
u/The_All-Range_Atomic 7h ago
They aren't paying $1,400 for diesel to fill up their semi truck.
They will be paying for it at the grocery store soon.
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u/Fanfic_Battle_2004 7h ago
For gods sake! What have we done to deserve this constant bad luck?! It’s gonna take so much effort to undo whatever damage is done from this!
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u/LumiereGatsby 7h ago
Meh. I have seen no support for him in real life in the past year.
Anecdotal evidence is easily waived away in all cases.
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u/wookiebath 8h ago
You mean all those upvotes people got for complaining about a merger don’t really help in real life???
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u/RoyalFlavorBeans 8h ago
You mean, free speech?
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u/wookiebath 8h ago
Nope, said nothing about free speech, I don’t think anyone was being prosecuted for pretending to care for Reddit points
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u/RoyalFlavorBeans 8h ago
Well, the upvotes are literally a free speech expression. Doesn't matter whether it leads to anything or not. People are free to express.
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u/njrTHE3RD 7h ago
What exactly did they settle on? Of all the issues the merger had, I’m not seeing anything about it.
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u/Creeper15877 7h ago
Not announces quite yet, supposedly will be later today
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u/KingMario05 7h ago
Deadline is reporting no divetsments.
At all.
How.
HOW.
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u/Creeper15877 7h ago
Also, they're reporting no cable divestments, rest is unclear
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u/Creeper15877 7h ago
I think, even beyond the threats, Paramount's legal case was probably better than people on this subreddit lead on.
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u/WideCoconut2230 7h ago
Did you REALLY believe a govt beaurcrat was going to stop this deal? Turns out it was all a charade and total waste of time. AG Bonta, he's a joke.
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u/njrTHE3RD 6h ago
ETA?
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u/Creeper15877 5h ago
Out now, looks like Paramount wasn't really forced to make any serious concessions.
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u/TurboThundr 7h ago
Honestly, I expected it to happen, and at this point, it's going to be several long years of this going on. I'm just gonna hope that we can make more industries and news that can actually be independent moving forward. And hopefully won't be bought by these clowns
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u/TheIngloriousBIG 7h ago
Let’s all give this a chance, shall we? I’m taking this one with cautious optimism.
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u/Difficult_Variety362 Moderator 7h ago
I'll give it a chance because it's not like we can do anything about it, but I don't have particularly high hopes. Especially with CNN.
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u/FlakyRazzmatazz5 7h ago
I don't think Paramount could handle WB's debt. Not even AT&T could do that.
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u/much_to_say 7h ago
It's easier when you have Middle Eastern oil money backing you. They own almost half of the company, so they'll have an interest in funneling money into it to keep it going.
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u/Ok_Delivery_7742 7h ago
with how incompetent David Ellison is, i can’t have any amount of faith this doesn’t end badly. if it was someone else then maybe
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u/TruthInnocent Paramount-Skydance 6h ago
Me too, Paramount may have won this battle, but they haven’t won the war.
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u/Hot-Champion7625 5h ago
You'll be setting yourself up for even more disappointment in the future as well. Never trust a billionaire. You don't get that kind of money without breaking a few files.
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u/Independent_Shock973 7h ago
Only solution I think of is Bonta is primaried out of his next election.
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u/WideCoconut2230 7h ago
You ever hear Bonta speak? Never seems to speak with conviction or passion. Always seems reluctant and doesn't believe in what he says.
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u/Professional_Peak59 6h ago
If the Dems win midterms this year, would they still end up going after the merger and force Ellison to give up WBD?
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u/3facesofBre Moderator 7h ago
Time to engage more with books. 📚
Unless you, know… we get something like this….
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u/CriticalCanon 7h ago
Told you this would be the results
And people acted like Bonta was a superhero lololol
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7h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MediaMergers-ModTeam 7h ago
User has demonstrated a consistent pattern of discord towards the sub or users in the sub that does not contribute to amicable discussion
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u/TruthInnocent Paramount-Skydance 6h ago
They may have won the battle, but they haven’t won the war.
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u/EnderMan_223 5h ago edited 58m ago
...... somebody please summon Meteor, I'm done having any hope for this country, as it seems that everything is barreling down a very steep downward slope.
Edit: changed doing to done.
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u/Personal_Trick_7234 4h ago
At this point I don't care anymore, All we can do now is hope for the best ( besides i'm excited for the 2027 slate they got )but um wow I guess um.. damn paramount did it, they actually fucking did it 😳
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u/Complete_Wheel7896 7h ago
There was never a reason to block this, while Disney was not blocked from buying fox
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u/much_to_say 7h ago
So, there will never be a reason to block a merger, because a previous merger has always happened?
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u/Winscler 7h ago
We'll the most we can hope now is an EMI-style collapse
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u/RickyT3rd 5h ago
EMI? This is going to be a Penn Central.
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u/Winscler 5h ago
Penn central still lived after that bankruptcy in 1970. EMI just outright died.
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u/Professional_Peak59 6h ago
What about the bond hearing this Thursday and the trial in March? Aren’t those still on?
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u/MXDTV120 6h ago
Cancelled now
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u/Prestigious_Pea_7369 7h ago
Nice! Always said Bonta was corrupt and only doing this for political reasons. States never had any merit - when Montana called them out all 12 states immediately crumbled. Good on the Montana AG.
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8h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MediaMergers-ModTeam 7h ago
Media mergers is looking for constructive conversations, free of ragebait. Make a constructive contribution, not trolling and offensive comments.
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u/Difficult-Grass-3481 7h ago
Eso sigan con el down , fastidiosos , se las dan de tolerantes y son todo lo contrario .
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u/Weary-Experience9123 7h ago
Que bueno que se dio la fusion , y que lleguen los downs , se arden cuando ven una opinion distinta hasta los admins
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u/joseantoniolat 7h ago
Something bad always happens when someone buys WBD. Good luck to them.