In a bid to stop rising prices for Arizonans and American Consumers and prevent a move to control the content and flow of news, information, and services, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, citing Section Seven of the Clayton Act, has joined eleven other states in a lawsuit to stop the $110 billion monopoly merger between Paramount/Skydance Corporation and Warner/Discovery.
Please click here to read the lawsuit.
In a press release before her public announcement, Attorney General Mayes justified her position in joining this suit, stating:
“If this merger goes through, Arizonans could face higher prices to see new movies and to access basic cable channels. It could also lead to job losses at movie theaters across our state. Consolidation in industry after industry will only lead us in one direction: higher prices and degraded quality and service for Arizonans. We cannot let that happen.”
During her public announcement, the Attorney General further highlighted the negative economic impact this merger could bring to the Grand Canyon state, noting:
“For every dollar that is spent at a movie theater, an estimated one dollar and fifty cents is spent at nearby businesses including restaurants, retail stores, or on transportation. Reduced attendance at our state’s movie theaters will drive down economic activity across our entire economy. Arizona movie theater related spending supported 11,607 jobs and generated 530 million dollars in labor income and produced 1.64 billion dollars in total output in 2023 alone.”
Mayes also highlighted the danger of reducing cable and streaming services including news information, and services while the consumer is hit with higher monthly bills, explaining:
“In addition to film, and this is really really important as well, the merger would significantly affect access to news and television. Warner Brothers Discovery owns CNN, relied upon by Arizona communities for national news, election coverage, and real-time reporting.
Today, cable distributors negotiating separately with Paramount and Warner Brothers, helping keep monthly bills more manageable, and ensuring news and cable networks remain widely available. That’s today, that’s what happens today. The merger will end this competition and permanently create a new merged entity with crushing bargaining power.
After the merger, those negotiations would be consolidated under a single entity controlling an enormous portfolio of must-carry channels, including CNN, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, the Food Network, HGTV, and many others. A company with that much control could threaten blackouts of dozens of channels at once, giving it unprecedented leverage. The likely result would be higher fees charged to cable and satellite providers, costs which would be passed directly to Arizona households.
And because the merged company plans substantial reductions in content investment, Arizonans could end up paying more while refusing, while receiving fewer news programs. That’s a terrible result. The newly merged company would also own exclusive rights to some of the most in-demand, must-have television programming, including March Madness and Major League Baseball.
Its portfolio would span all major genres, news, sports, general entertainment, kids and family, and lifestyle. No other programmer possesses a portfolio of comparable breadth. This would especially impact seniors, rural residents, and households who depend on traditional cable as a primary way to access news.
Any reduction in quality or accessibility would harm viewers who rely on timely, accurate information. Interruptions caused by blackouts would affect households statewide. Declining theatrical output also reduces price competition.”
Following the public announcement, Attorney General Mayes went on social media and said:
“I just joined 11 other states to block the merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers. This merger would be devastating to the state of Arizona.
It would have damaged our movie theater industry and it would have caused prices to go up for anybody who has cable or satellite services. It would have been a combination of two huge corporations that clearly have two things in mind. Number one, raising your prices and number two, diminishing services to the people of the state of Arizona.
So we’re going to stop this merger. It’s another example of a mega-billionaire trying to take advantage of Arizonans and if there’s anything I can do to stop it, we’re going to do it.”
The European Union and Britain have also delayed approval of the Paramount-Warner Merger until it reviews concessions offered by Paramount.
The threat to Arizona consumers is real for their bank accounts and for the quality and accuracy of the news information they receive.
According to some reports, journalists and staff at CNN are terrified of becoming the next CBS News, which has been taken over by Paramount Leader David Ellison’s favorite, Bari Weiss, and what she would do to CNN News if she wrapped her hands around it
This Orwellian fear was crystallized when Donald Trump, whose Justice Department approved the Paramount-Warner Merger, spearheaded by Trump donor and supporter David Ellison, appeared on CNN’s Jake Tapper and, in an apparent reference to the merger, said, “I’m trying to have CNN go on a normal path, and we’ll do that.”
Remember this revelation from the Ben Kingsley character Coz to the Robert Redford one in the prophetic movie Sneakers:
“The world isn’t run by weapons anymore, or energy, or money. It’s run by little ones and zeros, little bits of data. It’s all just electrons…There’s a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it’s not about who’s got the most bullets. It’s about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think. It’s all about the information.”
Donald Trump and David Ellison get that.
Fortunately, so do Kris Mayes and 11 other State Attorney Generals.
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.