{"id":686281,"date":"2026-03-27T20:20:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T20:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/686281\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T20:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T20:20:19","slug":"doj-issues-subpoenas-as-probe-of-warner-bros-discovery-paramount-deal-intensifies-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/686281\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ issues subpoenas as probe of Warner Bros. Discovery-Paramount deal intensifies: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Justice Department has sent subpoenas in its investigation of Paramount Skydance\u2019s\u00a0acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.<\/p>\n

The inquiries show the\u00a0DOJ\u00a0moving ahead with its probe into the\u00a0$110 billion acquisition that would combine the two major studios<\/a>, along with the companies\u2019 streaming platforms and news operations.<\/p>\n

Hollywood and Wall Street are intensely interested in the deal, which could shrink jobs if it succeeds but cost Paramount $7 billion if it is blocked.<\/p>\n

The inquiries show the\u00a0DOJ\u00a0moving ahead with its probe into the\u00a0$110 billion acquisition that would combine the two major studios, along with the companies\u2019 streaming platforms and news operations. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The\u00a0DOJ\u00a0is seeking information<\/a> on how the deal would affect studio output, content rights and competition among streaming services, the sources said.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0DOJ\u00a0is also asking how the acquisition could affect movie theaters, two of the sources said.<\/p>\n

Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi told Reuters in an interview last week that Paramount will \u201cabsolutely not\u201d have a fast track to approval because of political factors.<\/p>\n

Paramount has been expecting authorities in many places to review the deal, Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim said at an antitrust conference in Washington on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Representatives of the\u00a0DOJ, Paramount and Warner Bros did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The European Commission is actively engaging with third parties on the deal, two sources said. Canada has also reached out to at least one company about the deal, one of the sources said. <\/p>\n

Paramount has been expecting authorities in many places to review the deal. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The California Attorney General\u2019s office has also been eager to speak with third parties, the other two sources said.<\/p>\n

Paramount fought aggressively to\u00a0wrest the deal from Netflix<\/a>\u00a0and has bet on closing the deal quickly, promising to pay Warner Bros shareholders a 25-cent-per-share quarterly \u201cticking fee\u201d starting in October if the deal has not closed.<\/p>\n

Labor, theater concerns in the US<\/p>\n

One concern in the US is whether the merger would limit the number of buyers for films and shows.<\/p>\n

Paramount sees $6 billion in cost \u201csynergies\u201d in the deal, which is often code for massive layoffs. Paramount has said it expects the majority of those savings to come from streamlining technology and real estate, and other \u201ccorporate-wide efficiencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paramount sees $6 billion in cost \u201csynergies\u201d in the deal, which is often code for massive layoffs. Getty Images for Free Press<\/p>\n

The\u00a0DOJ\u00a0has reached out to independent production companies asking about the proposed deal\u2019s impact on competition, according to one industry veteran who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.<\/p>\n

The Teamsters union has expressed concern that the proposed merger \u201cposes a direct threat\u201d to employment, and urged the\u00a0DOJ\u00a0to block the deal unless enforceable safeguards are put in place to protect jobs and output.<\/p>\n

Such safeguards have been negotiated before. After its unsuccessful attempt to block the merger between T-Mobile\u00a0and Sprint, California secured an agreement that the merged company would maintain its California headcount for three years.<\/p>\n

The organization representing theater owners also issued a statement in late February, noting that studio consolidation has historically led to the production of fewer movies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this juncture, there is no reason to believe the outcome here will be any different,\u201d said Cinema United President Michael O\u2019Leary. \u201cWe continue to urge regulators to heed the lessons of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Justice Department has sent subpoenas in its investigation of Paramount Skydance\u2019s\u00a0acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, three sources…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":686282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[64,171,15428,398,8769,15329,225621,79361,173,67,132,68,27281],"class_list":["post-686281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-business","tag-entertainment","tag-justice-department","tag-media","tag-mergers-acquisitions","tag-paramount","tag-probes","tag-subpoenas","tag-tv","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-warner-bros-discovery"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116302998894141986","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686281","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=686281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}