POLITICS LOOM LARGE OVER DEAL
Critics of the deal have said Paramount's political connections smoothed the path to clearance last month by the U.S. Department of Justice. Paramount CEO David Ellison's father, billionaire Oracle (ORCL.N), opens new tab co-founder Larry Ellison, has cultivated ties with Republican President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, all of the state attorneys general involved in the lawsuit are Democrats. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said, “despite the federal regulators rubber-stamping this bad deal, we’re stepping up to protect families, small businesses, and Oregon’s film industry.”

For some Democrats, antitrust has also become a way to combat the Trump administration when they think it is allowing corporations to leverage their influence. Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Washington also joined the lawsuit.
"Trump is pro-rigged economy," Bonta said at a press conference on Monday, citing major antitrust cases the DOJ has resolved, including a case against concert company Live Nation (LYV.N), opens new tab. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Antitrust enforcement has also been used to combat the issues vexing voters the most in recent years, with U.S. political leaders leveraging competition law to harness frustration with the soaring cost of living and to address widespread negative sentiment towards big business.

The Paramount deal is no different. Hollywood workers slammed the deal, fearing it would hurt jobs. Theater owners opposed it, worrying it would result in fewer films.
If allowed to move forward with the deal, Paramount would control 27% of the distribution market for films that appear on screens across America, 30% of blockbuster film distribution and 27% of the market for basic cable channels, the states said.

Paramount and Warner Bros compete for the best release dates and screens at thousands of movie theaters across the country, the states said. Without that competition, theaters and moviegoers could face higher prices, the states argued.
Similarly, pay TV distributors and their subscribers rely on competition between the two companies, which together would control major channels such as CNN, MTV, HGTV, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.
Paramount has said the deal will allow it to produce more, not less, after it cuts $6 billion in redundant infrastructure, marketing and corporate jobs. Ellison has vowed that the combined film studios would release 30 movies a year.
The states called that commitment unenforceable, and said that even if the company stuck to that promise, it would still be in a position to raise prices and decrease quality after the merger. They said the merger would ripple through the states' economies, harming tens of thousands of writers, actors, film crews and others.

DELAYS COULD COST PARAMOUNT
Paramount shares closed up 1.5%, and Warner Bros shares rose 1.9%.
It will likely take months for a ruling on the states' claims, causing a delay that could rack up hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for Paramount. The states have asked Paramount to delay closing the deal until the legal process concludes. Otherwise, the states said, they will seek an order keeping the deal from closing.
“This is a major setback and arguably the most credible threat yet to Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery," said Paolo Pescatore, analyst at PP Foresight. Delays will be costly, even if Paramount ultimately wins, he said.

Paramount has committed to pay around $650 million in fees to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders each quarter if the deal does not close before October. The company has said delays could force it to renegotiate the deal's financing, cause uncertainty for its stock price, or even scuttle the transaction altogether.
Similar cases in recent years have taken an average of eight months for a judge to reach a determination, a Reuters review of recent federal merger cases found.

how does this affect me?

>>1523780
>how does this affect me?
Less providers of for profit services=more expensive, shittier services

>>1523775
This is a literal holocaust. Did anyone think to ask the shareholders? Shareholder interest is more important than the public hello? How will we achieve record DOW numbers otherwise?

>>1523780
OP posted the Reuters link.
Trump approves of the deal, should be all you need to know

>>1523780
Monopolies are bad

>>1523790
Oh now they're bad? We were totally cool with a far-left agenda pushing woke garbage down our throats for the last decade with shitty films like She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, an all-female Ghostbusters, black Captain America, the latest Terminator, Lightyear, EVERYTHING Star wars - I could go on. But when the right tries to move in it's a fucking "fascist right wing's prolonged campaign to take over all of American media" -because imagine the fucking HORROR of having a straight white cisgendered protagonist for once!

Die in a fire.

>>1523806
Preach

>>1523806
Licensing agreements are communism! What we need is to take these icons and return them to the people! If everyone has equal access to IPs then capitalism will flourish!

>>1523808
>If everyone has equal access to IPs then capitalism will flourish!
its okay, everyone can make a video about Trump being a rapist now

I personally want to see more corporate deals like this if it brings us more movies like Starship Troopers(me & the boys, Genghis, Adolf, Joseph, really enjoyed that movie down here).

PS:Lindsey's ladybugs are a real hit down here, we burn them off with hot pokers and they grow right back.
it screams like a little girl, and then says MORE!

>>1523810
it's hot as hell up here George, on the East Coast of North America, hell on earth as they say.
I believe the Republicans are not lizard aliens trying to replicate their hot home planet environment on Earth as some believe, but actually demons who are trying to replicate hell on Earth.

as far as this right wing takeover of our media, I look forward to seeing some good old-fashioned John Wayne type movies.

>>1523810
everything in your post is plausible except Adolf being in hell.

>>1523806
I agree identity politics ruined a lot of good movies, especially star wars.
Yes, monopolies are bad.
What you're describing isn't a monopoly you disingenuous dipshit, right wingers were producing media in that time too, it just felt like a monopoly because right wing media is dogshit so you don't watch it.

They're fascist because the president is threatening broadcasting licenses of networks that are critical of him. That isn't hyperbolic, the president is literally using his power to attempt to control media.

You should be caned for conflating that with Disney, which is not part of the government, trying to push woke propaganda. You're a fucking dumbass and a pussy for letting those screeching blue haired feminist left wing extremist faggots push you away from sensible politics and into right wing extremism.

People who need a character to look like them instead of just relating to the character's character are racist morons. That includes you you fucking hypocrite.

>>1523781
>>1523790
>A movie monopoly
What does it matter? I'm not going to watch these movies, and that's that.

>>1523867
>Why does it matter that the president is using his political power to literally, not figuratively, literally control what private companies can and cannot show on TV; and is explicitly pushing and trying to deter criticism of himself and his political allies.

Because that's literally, not figuratively, literally fascism you fucking idiot.

>>1523806
Bitching about Star Wars going woke is literally the dumbest fucking thing imaginable. Bitch, the Rebel Alliance was supposed to be a metaphor for the fucking Vietcong and the Empire the Nazis. It was literally fucking communist propaganda.

And T2, the best Terminator film, is ACAB propaganda. The villain is dressed as a cop to turn the police into a fucking horror villain. Fuck's sake.

>>1523876
The only thing more baffling are Republicans who like Star Trek when the entire system shits on their beliefs.

>>1523806
>Oh now they’re bad
They’ve always been bad you absolute fucking retard

>>1523876
Communism is typically atheist. Star wars is a story about a sentient force with a will effecting the way the universe unfolds through chosen (kinda) actors. It isn't propaganda, it's a movie with depth that takes inspiration from a ton of things, from the Vietnam war, to feudal samurai and eastern philosophy, to the bad drive-in movies Lucas watched as a kid. I'm not saying it's completely apolitical, and it probably did reflect Lucas' relatively liberal values, but propaganda is a wild stretch

It is fucking stupid to bitch about star wars going woke in light of the multiple existential threats our species is facing due to our mismanaged government, sure.

It's fucking stupid to bitch about anything for being woke. It is, however, entirely reasonable in the context of escapist fantasies to criticize the disney star wars movies for being dogshit that missed the mark. They paraded around the bloated corpse of an IP they didn't understand or respect, and when people pushed back, they leaned into identity politics and lashed out against their fans.

Like, are you legit sitting here arguing that the disney star wars movies are good and that their PR was handled well? Because fuck that retarded right wing closet case you're shitting on, but if you're sitting here pissing on my head telling me it's raining like that, then fuck you too. I will stand with you on matters of sensible governance, but your taste in films is fucking terrible contingent on your answer.

>>1523917
>It isn't propaganda
Just cause you like it doesn't change the fact that it was deliberate propaganda.

>>1523919
No, you're right. Star Wars is literally communist propaganda. That's why it ends with a princess being restored to her throne, a monarchy being saved, and the fascist space wizard destroying his own evil empire because his son believed there was still good in him. Truly the most Marxist story ever written.

>>1523876
>And T2, the best Terminator film, is ACAB propaganda. The villain is dressed as a cop to turn the police into a fucking horror villain. Fuck's sake.
This is the most fucking retarded take I have ever heard in my life. You are completely full of shit. At no point in any interview, commentary, or any form of media did James Cameron suggest the T-1000 was supposed to represent some dumbass ACAB bullshit - a sentiment no one had in 1991! In fact, he went on to describe how terrifying the T-1000 was because he took the form of something we were supposed to trust, which made him the perfect (and terrifying) infiltration unit. Fuck's sake.

>>1523917
>Sentient force
Which are actually midichlorians, something that can be observed and measured. Which contradicts the usual voo doo that is religion.

>>1523946
Uh... are you fucking kidding me? A sentiment no one had in 1991? A year before Rage Against The Machine released killing in the name of, a protest song about the Rodney King riots? Are you fucking kidding me, a sentiment no one had in 1991, 3 years after NWA's Fuck Da Police?

Yeah, I agree, it's fucking retarded to call T2 and Star Wars propaganda, you had a great point until you said something totally inconsistent with reality and way more stupid.

>>1523953
Does religion assume it's impotent voodoo?
No?
Cool. So in a fantasy story, does it make sense force space wizard monks to have a religion that magically works, or do you legit think it would have made more sense for Obi Wan to pray for his lightsaber to come to him and for nothing to happen before Darth Maul cut him in half in the climax of TPM? Y'know, the thing that would've happened IRL?
What, it's reasonable for religion to work in fantasy? Go figure.
>Midichlorians can be measured, contradicting voodoo.
Everyone bitched about them taking the mystery out of the universe. Because everyone watched the retarded plinket reviews and started parroting the same shitty criticisms from a parody YouTuber with a straight face.
At the start nobody knew what the force was or how it worked. Midichlorians were added. Nobody knows what Midichlorians are, or how they work. Barely any new information with any explanatory power was added, and someone with a low mc count can still be stronger than someone with a higher count thru discipline.
So Midichlorians are about as meaningful in star wars as power levels in DBZ; not at all.

>>1523955
>A year before
Yeah. A year before. Do you know how time works? Nobody had any anti-cop sentiment because Rodney King DIDN'T HAPPEN YET you dumb fuck! Which is why nobody - LEAST of all James Cameron - was even thinking ACAB, aside from blacks in Compton.

God I wish a terminator would go back in time and kill your mother to prevent you from making stupid posts on 4chan.

>>1523960
You're right you dumb fuck, I said a year before instead of after. I'm dyslexic so Niggers With Attitude didn't exist or write Fuck Da Police 3 years before. Before that literally no one had a problem with the police. You're not a retard and I'm not being sarcastic you disingenuous dipshit.

>>1523963
its what you get for trying to have a conversation with esl shill
if they were an American citizen they'd have as much say in the government as you or I