Paramount offers films, jobs and news board to end states' fight

Paramount has reached a proposed settlement with 12 states to end their antitrust case, meaning a claim the deal would harm competition, over its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The terms were reported by Variety on 21 September 2026. The deal still needs court approval.

Under the proposal, Paramount agreed to keep its operations in California. It also committed not to sell the Paramount Studios lot or the Warner Bros. lot in the state.

That pledge follows a threat from Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison to pull operations from California if he could not close the Warner Bros. Discovery deal by 1 October. The same report carried that warning.

Money for crews is central. Paramount committed to spend at least $300 million more each year on film production in the United States than was spent in 2025. Ellison said the agreement records commitments including more than 30 films a year and expanded US film production.

Cinemas get a promise too. The proposed settlement requires minimum numbers of annual releases in wide-release, meaning a launch in hundreds of cinemas at once, and tentpole, meaning big-budget flagship, categories. For pay-TV, Paramount- and Warner Bros.-owned basic cable channels, meaning channels carried in the standard bundle, must be negotiated separately for five years.

Jobs protections sit inside the proposed consent decree, meaning a court-enforced deal. It includes maintaining both production lots, honouring collective bargaining agreements, meaning union contracts, and funding workforce training. A State Committee of five states would oversee enforcement.

News is handled separately. Paramount agreed to a third-party News Editorial Independence Board to oversee CNN and CBS News. The board would set guiding editorial and journalism principles for the combined company's news channels. Compliance would be checked by both an internal Compliance Monitor and an independent Monitoring Trustee.

The lawsuit behind the talks was filed on 13 July 2026 by California and 11 other states to block the takeover. The bid was reported then at $81 billion by the Houston Chronicle, while the California Attorney General described it as a $110 billion merger. The parties later agreed not to merge until five days after a decision on the merits or until 1 June 2027, according to the California Attorney General's Office.

Costs of delay are rising. Paramount will owe Warner Bros. shareholders a $7 million-per-day ticking fee for each day after 30 September until the merger closes, and it asked a US judge to require the challenging states to post a $1.88 billion bond, a demand backed by the US Department of Justice, according to Reuters. Paramount has said it secured clearances in nearly 70 countries and received the needed creditor consents, according to Paramount.

For viewers, this means no change yet. Films, channels and newsrooms stay as they are until a judge rules and the companies close.