As RBR+TVBR first reported on Monday, a coalition of 12 state Attorneys General, led by California’s Rob Bonta, moved forward with its highly expected move of filing a lawsuit challenging the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by the parent of CBS News & Stations.
The goal of that action was simple: WBD and Paramount Skydance were asked to refrain from closing on the transaction until after the judicial process concludes. With a hard “no” from the companies, the coalition on Monday night moved forward with the filing of a temporary restraining order.
Just hours after filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California — where Oakland-based District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin is to consider the case — Bonta and the other state AGs filed a TRO motion and preliminary injunction to immediately block the deal.
Noting that WBD and Paramount Skydance did not agree to their request, Bonta insisted that the “unlawful merger of Warner Bros. and Paramount would harm movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S. These titans of industry must not move to merge until a court properly evaluates our claims … I will not let Warner Bros. and Paramount merge without a fight.”
As RBR+TVBR reached its 2pm Pacific deadlines on Tuesday, it became known that District Judge P. Casey Pitts for the Northern District of California, where Bonta filed the Paramount/WBD lawsuit, has scheduled a hearing for 10am Pacific on Friday (7/17) to consider the emergency motion.
Pitts, who was selected by President Biden, has also enforced a Noon Pacific deadline on Thursday (7/16) for Paramount to officially submit its opposition to the temporary restraining order request.
For the AGs, a ruling from Judge Pitts is desired by Wednesday, July 22. The date is important as the European Union’s approval of the transaction is expected to arrive, allowing Paramount Skydance and WBD to effectively merge.
The Northern District of California is different than the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, where the Nexstar Media Group/TEGNA lawsuit that yielded a preliminary injunction blocking a full integration of TEGNA’s assets with Nexstar was filed.
That case is being heard by Sacramento-based judge Troy Nunley, and will consider whether the marriage of TEGNA and Nexstar is an antitrust violation come July 2027.
