Why is the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) deal good for competition?
- Competition in today’s entertainment market depends on scale, investment, and the ability to keep audiences engaged across formats. Paramount and WBD cannot meet that challenge by standing still; they need the scale this combination presents to invest, grow, and compete more effectively against Netflix and other dominant technology platforms.
- The transaction creates that scale without reducing the competitive pressure the combined company will face. Consumers will still have countless paid and free options, and Paramount-WBD will still have to compete every day against major studios, streamers, technology platforms, and other entertainment choices.
- To win audiences, the combined company will need to invest in more fresh, high-quality content, expand theatrical and streaming offerings, improve the consumer experience, and continue licensing content across the broader ecosystem. That means more output, more choice, and a stronger challenger in a marketplace that will remain highly competitive after the deal closes.
- In addition to the United States, competition regulators around the world have concluded that the merger will not pose any threat to competition. Paramount has received competition clearances in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Kuwait, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, and Ukraine. Paramount has also received foreign direct investment (FDI) clearances in Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Slovenia, Belgium, Czechia, New Zealand, Italy, and Romania.
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Why is the deal good for consumers?
- The status quo is not delivering enough competition for consumers. This transaction will give consumers more choice, stronger value at competitive prices, and a better entertainment experience by creating a well-capitalized, creative-first company that can challenge dominant technology platforms.
- Once combined, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) streaming subscribers will get a lot more content at a more attractive price. At the same time, Paramount and WBD will be in a better position to compete with Netflix, Amazon, and Disney’s dominant streaming platforms by offering a broader, more diverse array of content at a price well below what consumers pay to subscribe to both parties’ platforms today.
- Consumers will also have access to a broader and more compelling mix of content across theaters, television, and live programming because the transaction will bring together some of the world's most valuable franchises, films, television series, sports programming, and news content.
- Most importantly, this deal is built around the need for more output. To grow and compete, the combined company will have every incentive to deliver more of the films, series, live programming, and news that audiences want, and to make that content easier for consumers to find and watch.
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Why is the deal good for the creative community?
- This transaction is about expanding the content engine, not shrinking it. A combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will have greater ability and incentive to invest in film and television production, which means more work for the creative professionals and skilled workers who make that content possible.
- That increased investment translates directly into production activity—more projects moving forward and more opportunities for the writers, directors, producers, actors, crew members, drivers, location teams, casting professionals, caterers, mechanics, and other union and guild workers who bring content to life.
- That competitive pressure should extend beyond Paramount-WBD. In a healthy competitive market, increased investment from one studio pushes other studios and platforms to respond with more investment in their own slates, creating additional opportunities for labor across the broader industry.
- The combined company will also continue licensing content to third-party platforms and buying from third-party studios and independent producers, helping create more opportunities for royalties across the broader creative community.
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Why is the deal good for theaters?
- The transaction strengthens theatrical exhibition at a moment when theaters are under tremendous pressure from streaming-first distribution models. Paramount’s strategy is to release at least 30 theatrical films annually, with every film receiving a full theatrical release, a minimum 45-day theatrical window, and no subscription video-on-demand availability before 90 days, because theaters are vital partners in tapping into the magic of the moviegoing experience and creating momentum behind films before they reach streaming services.
- A steady pipeline of theatrical films gives moviegoers more reasons to return to the big screen. More theatrical releases help drive attendance, support theater jobs, and bolster the local economies tied to theater traffic, including restaurants, retail, parking, security, cleaning, concessions, and event services.
- Dominant technology platforms like Netflix have made clear that streaming, not theatrical production, is their priority. Preserving the status quo would reinforce that trend, while this transaction is built around getting more films into theaters and in front of audiences.
What will happen to Hollywood if the deal is blocked or delayed?
- Blocking or delaying the deal would preserve a status quo that is already failing Hollywood. Dominant streaming and technology platforms like Netflix have enormous scale and leverage, theatrical exhibition remains under pressure, and too few traditional media companies have the resources to compete at the level needed to support sustained production, creative-risk taking, and jobs.
- The LA County Department of Economic Opportunity’s Interim Economic Report recognized that Los Angeles must compete to capture production, not simply rely on its historic industry base. Blocking or delaying the deal would make that harder by standing in the way of a transaction designed to bring more scale, more investment, and a stronger production pipeline to Hollywood.
- A combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery offers a growth strategy for Hollywood and California’s entertainment workforce. The LA County report recognized that scale has become a critical competitive advantage in streaming, and this transaction would create a stronger, better-capitalized competitor with the resources to invest in more films, series, theatrical releases, and creative talent at a time when the industry needs more production.
- If the deal is delayed or blocked, Hollywood loses the benefits of that strategy, including more opportunities for creative professionals and skilled production workers, more content for audiences, stronger support for theaters, and greater competitive pressure on the dominant platforms shaping the market today.
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