Paramount says it will pause its Warner acquisition while legal challenges play out

Culture Paramount says it will pause its Warner acquisition while legal challenges play out July 24, 20266:26 PM ET By  David Folkenflik ,  Clare Lombardo Jae C. Hong/Associated Press Sign up for NPR's Up First morning newsletter for the stories you need to start your day. The blockbuster merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery is on hold — possibly for many months — as two legal challenges to the $111 billion deal play out in court. In a legal filing in federal court in California on Friday, Paramount says it has agreed not to take any steps to acquire Warner until June 1, 2027, or five days after the lawsuits are resolved, if that comes first. The proposed deal would unite Paramount and Warner's film studios, streamers Paramount+ and HBO, and dozens of cable channels, along with CBS and CNN. Sponsor Message But Paramount is battling a pair of lawsuits filed by a consortium of 12 states and from the Writers Guild of America, which represents many entertainment professionals who work in Hollywood. The Democratic attorneys general and the Writers Guild allege that Paramount's purchase of Warner Bros. would reduce competition, hurting filmgoers along with TV and news consumers and especially those who create entertainment programming and the news content that the public relies on. The Indicator from Planet Money Can Paramount "gift" its way past the FCC? Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted a temporary restraining order to pause the acquisition. Martínez-Olguín has yet to sign the agreement filed Friday. In a statement, New York Attorney General Leticia James wrote, "Halting this merger while our case proceeds is a critical victory in our efforts to uphold the law and protect the film and television industries." "Our argument against this illegal merger is straightforward: When too few corporations have too much power in markets central to American life, it makes things more expensive, and it makes things worse," said...