10 States Are Reportedly Investigating Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger

They got Marc Ruffalo’s letters! Bloomberg is reporting that the Attorneys General for 10 states are exploring options to block the Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. “The combined megacorp name is going to be stupid long” is probably not one of the arguments, but it doesn’t help. Skydance-Paramount-Viacom-CBS-Warner-HBO-Turner-Discovery doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

States looking at the deal include California (natch), New York, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania, per Bloomberg. No state AGs have officially commented on whether they will be filing antitrust complaints, but reps for Connecticut told The Wrap they were “very concerned” about the proposed merger. “Red flags are everywhere when you have a merger of this type,” California AG Rob Bonta said in the past, but didn’t comment on what particular steps his office would or would not be taking. If state AGs don’t act, the Paramount-Warner deal could close as early as July.