Warner Bros. Shareholders Set to Increase Streaming Competition
Progressive efforts to derail the Paramount merger are baseless.
Blue-state attorneys general (AGs), led by California’s Rob Bonta, are eyeing an eleventh-hour move to derail the blockbuster Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) merger, a $111 billion tie-up that would place HBO Max, a portfolio of cable channels including CNN, and WBD’s extensive film library and studio operations under the control of Paramount CEO David Ellison.
With a crucial April 23 shareholder vote looming, Bonta is reportedly in talks with other state AGs about how they can push back against this media merger. It won’t be their first rodeo. Last month, Bonta’s office led a coalition of eight Democratic AGs in opposing the proposed tie-up of rival TV broadcasters Nexstar Media and Tegna.
Paramount’s general counsel, Makan Delrahim, a former assistant attorney general overseeing the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, should be preparing for a fight. Bonta is coordinating with New York’s Letitia James. Together, they run two of the largest state AG offices in the country. Size matters in antitrust prosecutions, which require a stable of experts and large trial teams. California and New York have the horsepower that’s needed to go toe-to-toe with a deep bench of company lawyers and are fresh off a victory in the Nexstar merger, which a Sacramento federal judge has preliminarily blocked pending drawn-out proceedings at the trial court or an appeal.
The states would also have air cover from congressional Democrats and Hollywood liberals. This week, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Committee, convened an unofficial “spotlight hearing” featuring critics of the deal, including actor Mark Ruffalo, who warned that the “concentrated oligarchic control this merger represents is a threat to free press, an informed populace, and democracy itself.” Senator Booker’s hearing came days after more than 3,000 members of the entertainment industry signed on to a letter organized by Jane Fonda in opposition to the merger.
Pursuit of Happiness
The Rise of Latino America
In The Rise of Latino America, Hernandez & Kotkin argue that Latinos, who are projected to become America’s largest ethnic group, are a dynamic force shaping the nation’s demographic, economic, and cultural future. Far from being a marginalized group defined by oppression, Latinos are integral to America’s story. They drive economic growth, cultural evolution, and workforce vitality. Challenges, however, including poverty, educational disparities, and restrictive policies, threaten their upward mobility. Policymakers who wish to harness Latino potential to ensure national prosperity and resilience should adopt policies that prioritize affordability, safety, and economic opportunity over ideological constraints.
The Active Dead
Helprin’s refusal to flatter the tastes of our prize-encrusted literary establishment merits three cheers from thinking people on the right.
The Radicalism of Harvey Mansfield
For many academics, students are mere tools to advance an agenda. Mansfield, however, is part of an older tradition that cares more about their souls.
