LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The biggest merger in Hollywood history is a bit closer to reality after states suing to stop it agreed to a settlement.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Paramount Skydance wants to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal valued at $111 billion. Paramount's owners have agreed to some concessions to resolve the antitrust lawsuit that was filed by various state attorneys general, including California's Rob Bonta.
ROB BONTA: This settlement is not a vote of support for this merger. It is not a blessing of the broader merger.
INSKEEP: We will put questions to California's attorney general in a moment after we hear the details.
FADEL: NPR culture correspondent Mandalit del Barco is covering this in Los Angeles and joins me now. Good morning, Mandalit.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So tell us what Paramount CEO David Ellison has promised in exchange for the settlement.
DEL BARCO: Well, for one thing, Ellison and company agreed to operate Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Studios separately for now. They promised to spend $300 million more to make movies in the U.S. And the court documents they signed say that in the first two years, the combined company will release at least 30 films a year, and at least four of those independent films. But it's unclear what it means that half of those films would be produced jointly.
FADEL: What about the company's news businesses?
DEL BARCO: Well, Ellison bought Paramount last year with the help of his billionaire father, Larry Ellison, who has ties to President Trump. Paramount runs CBS News, which has gone through many changes since then. And the state attorneys general worried that the merger would also affect news coverage of CNN. That's currently run by Warner Bros.
In the deal, Paramount agreed to create a board to establish editorial independence for CBS and CNN. But the decree says the members'll be appointed by the directors of the merged company. And we should note, Leila, that Warner Bros. Discovery and one of Paramount's businesses, Paramount+, are financial supporters of NPR.
FADEL: How are critics of the merger reacting to this settlement?
DEL BARCO: Well, some politicians and many writers, actors and other workers in Hollywood fear that this merger will lead to layoffs, fewer choices and price-gouging for audiences. They're skeptical of Paramount's promises, and they say they don't want so much consolidated power in the hands of the Ellisons. Alvaro Bedoya is a former federal trade commissioner, and he advises one of the groups involved in the Block the Merger coalition. He told NPR he's upset that the attorneys general caved to Paramount after Ellison and company threatened to move their studios out of California.
ALVARO BEDOYA: They censored and bullied their way to the top here. This is coming in a moment when people already perceive media freedom to be at risk.
DEL BARCO: Bedoya notes that just last Friday, President Trump barred journalists from CNN and two other media organizations from the White House.
FADEL: Paramount also settled another lawsuit, filed by the Writers Guild of America. What happened there?
DEL BARCO: Well, the WGA said in a statement that Paramount agreed to prohibit layoffs of CBS News writers. They also settled because it was too expensive to continue suing Paramount without support from the attorneys general. NPR also heard from screenwriter Jacob Tobia, a WGA member, who says two of his TV shows he sold were canceled during media consolidations. And he predicts this deal will be terrible for artists.
JACOB TOBIA: This mega merger will be used as a chance for the Ellisons to censor content that is politically inconvenient or doesn't align with what they think America should look like.
DEL BARCO: David Ellison defends his deal as being pro-worker and pro-consumer. And a judge still has to approve the merger. Ellison thinks it could be done in two weeks.
FADEL: NPR's culture correspondent Mandalit del Barco in Los Angeles. Thank you, Mandalit.
DEL BARCO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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