{"id":1011506,"date":"2026-08-19T21:47:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1011506\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T21:47:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:47:21","slug":"paramount-warner-bros-merger-will-cost-4500-l-a-jobs-report-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1011506\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Will Cost 4,500 L.A. Jobs, Report Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. could cost about 4,500 film and TV jobs over three years, according to a new report issued by Los Angeles County.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe report, prepared by CVL Economics<\/a>, argues that the merger would accelerate the downturn in L.A. production, which has already cost 52,000 jobs over the last four years. The report also notes that the combined company would face significant pressure to reduce costs in order to pay down debt, which could entail moving production out of Los Angeles and consolidating slates.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTwo buyers become one,\u201d the report notes. \u201cThe merger reduces independent commissioning options, with the largest increases in buyer concentration occurring in unscripted, reality, and talk television.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 4,500 lost jobs would also have a ripple effect across the regional economy, the report argues, amounting to a total loss of 10,360 jobs.<\/p>\n

\n\tL.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath asked for a report in March on the economic effect of the merger. The firm, CVL Economics, issued a preliminary report in June forecasting that 2,495 corporate jobs would be \u201cat risk\u201d in L.A. County as the company moves to consolidate IT, real estate, marketing and other functions. The follow-up report, issued Tuesday, focused on production jobs.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn response, Paramount issued a statement arguing that the report proves its point about the dire state of Hollywood\u2019s production economy.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cL.A. County\u2019s own economic report underscores what we have been saying all along: our industry is in decline, production is down and jobs are being lost \u2014 and lost for good if we don\u2019t act,\u201d a company spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount, however, has argued that the merger will result in a stronger company able to produce more films and TV shows \u2014 though it has not promised to make them in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOur plan to invest $30 billion annually in production and release at least 30 films a year is how we regain that ground: more production that supports more jobs over time, and ultimately, a stronger, more durable entertainment industry for generations to come,\u201d the company added.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Paramount-Warner Bros.<\/a> merger is on hold at least through March 2027, when a trial is scheduled on the antitrust lawsuit brought by 12 state attorneys general. The states\u2019 lawsuit relies on allegations of illegal market concentration in theatrical distribution and basic cable distribution, and does not center on the job-loss issues identified in the county report.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Writers Guild of America, however, does rely on those issues in its own lawsuit, which will be tried concurrently with the states\u2019 case. The WGA argues that the deal will lead to fewer opportunities for writers to sell their projects. The Directors Guild of America and IATSE have taken a different tack, arguing that the delay in closing the deal presents its own risks, and urging the parties to reach a settlement.<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount, meanwhile, has asked that the plaintiffs be forced to post a $1.88 billion bond as a condition of maintaining its agreement not to close the transaction. A hearing on that request is set for Sept. 24 in federal court in Oakland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. could cost about 4,500 film and TV jobs over three years,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1011507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,5337,374276],"class_list":["post-1011506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-paramount-warner-bros"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117124375940608277","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1011506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1011507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1011506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1011506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1011506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}