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Judge halts Paramount’s $111B purchase of Warner Bros. in win for US states

Judge grants restraining order, saying merger “likely to violate antitrust laws.”
Jon Brodkin – 20 Jul 2026 22:10 | 93

A federal judge today ordered Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery to halt their $111 billion merger, handing an early win to states that sued to block the deal. The ruling granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the firms from completing the merger and from consolidating their operations.

The temporary order is only in effect for 14 days, but it can be converted into a preliminary injunction that would prevent the merger from being completed until the case is resolved. The temporary restraining order can be extended past the 14-day period if more time is needed to rule on a preliminary injunction.

A group of 12 states led by California sued the companies last week in an attempt to block the deal, which had been approved by the Trump administration. The states say the merger will eliminate competition by combining two of the five major Hollywood movie studios, and two of the five major owners of basic cable TV channels.

“My office and attorneys general nationwide have secured an emergency order blocking the unlawful merger of Warner Bros. and Paramount,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said today. “This is a critical first win in our case to ensure this megamerger never sees the light of day.”

The case is in US District Court for the Northern District of California. US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín wrote in today’s order that the states “make a strong showing that the Transaction will substantially lessen competition” in the theatrical-film market, and that “the Court is persuaded that it can presume the proposed merger is likely to violate antitrust laws.”

Judge cites presumption of illegality

The merged company is expected to have a 27 percent share of the wide-release theatrical distribution market, the judge wrote. Courts have presumed that a merger resulting in a share of 30 percent or more is likely to violate antitrust law, but 30 percent is not the lowest market share that can pose a threat, she wrote.

The judge also pointed to a sharp rise in concentration as measured in the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), saying the HHI increase for Paramount/WBD exceeds the level necessary to show the merger is likely to enhance market power.

“Where plaintiffs demonstrate a presumption of illegality by way of undue market concentration, they need not offer ‘elaborate proof of market structure, market behavior, or probable anticompetitive effects'” to obtain a restraining order, Martínez-Olguín wrote.

The legal standard for issuing a temporary restraining order is the same as the one for issuing a preliminary injunction. Parties seeking either kind of preliminary relief must show a likelihood of success on the merits, a likelihood of irreparable harm in the absence of a court order, and that the order would be in the public interest.

Martínez-Olguín said the merger poses potential harms to the public, and that Paramount and WBD would not suffer any harm from having to wait a few months.

“Defendants will suffer no apparent harm in the near term if enjoined from consummating the Transaction—they concede that they will not begin to incur carrying costs for a delayed merger until the end of September 2026,” the order said. “Even if Defendants argued that they would suffer economic harm as a result of delaying the merger, the equities do not weigh in their favor when contrasted with the potential public harms that would result from consummation of the Transaction, including the loss of competition.”

Martínez-Olguín set a schedule for the sides to submit briefs and scheduled a hearing on a preliminary injunction for August 3. Paramount can challenge the district court’s rulings in the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. It is likely to do so if Martínez-Olguín maintains that the merger cannot be completed until after a trial.

Unwatchable! Too many ads and no option to remove them. I won't be subscribing again.

Not only you pay for the service but the shows are interrupted number of times by Incredible number of ads (my record is 7 in a single break and has occured a number of times). That's a close to a scam as it gets

It started off ok, with the odd advert now and again, but now they are taking the piss, more ads than some of the free channels, so what the heck am I paying my subscription for? Well, if they continue taking the piss, I won't be renewing my subscription.

Discovery + was advertised as providing coverage of the 2026 Roland Garros tennis grand slam. I enrolled and paid the fee for one month. Once downloaded on my TV I searched on Sports, only to be told I’d have to download the HBO app, which demanded a much higher fee. But I’d already paid Discovery+.
I managed to access Discovery’s customer service - they emailed me to say they would look into it. That was almost 3 weeks ago and I have heard nothing about my request for a refund.

My daughter’s boyfriend spends a lot of time here with us and has Discovery Plus on our TV. I’m actually watching the 3rd season of The Curious Case of Natalia Grace after watching the first two on NOWTV. I can’t say I’ve had any problems with buffering etc… but that could be because I am not watching on a tablet or a phone. I’ve looked into the subscription but after the reviews of dealing with customer service I’ve decided never. The adverts are ridiculous, there are so many and repetitive. Even so, if they sorted out customer service I would consider them as I love True Crime.

Dreadful! I’m paying for a service and have to watch tens of adverts every episode I watch, what a joke.

We enjoy some of the programming on Discovery+, but somehow we were being double billed for 2 months, and it's absolutely, frustratingly impossible to get any results from the overseas 'customer service' and all of their canned responses. HORRIBLE, NON-EXISTENT, MADDENING, and finally TOTALLY INCAPABLE of correcting legitimate customer coplaints is how I rate Discovery+ customer care.

I don't mind adverts, but the same ads, over and over again, disruptive and boring.

WORSE THAN YOUTUBE
5 adds of 50s-1min in 10 minutes ...so every 10 minutes I'm getting nearly 5 minutes in adds ..the app is sloppy and lagging... thank God I have tried it before making a bad call... Recommend YOUTUBE instead of this...more things out there and with less adds ....

Not only is Discovery + a rubbish channel it's also riddled with adverts.! So why Discovery + would anyone bother to watch?

Lost tnt last night so missed the second half of match…not for the first time . This station is poor in almost every respect….let’s hope to change to HBO is an improvement.
The FA should seriously consider letting sky show all the football.

I pay £31 a month and they still show adverts in the middle of sport events. Enshitiffcation at its most blatant.

Oh, we recall the enchantment of '91! When Eurosport descended upon us like a benediction, amplifying each precious thrill. Those were the days of wonder, were they not? The Tour de France's mighty roar and Roland Garros' sacred soil brought the world's grandest adventures to our humble hearths, transforming every subscription into a luminous gift, a balm for the weary soul.

Cycling, that sublime and unbounded devotion, with its heroic odysseys and tempestuous turns, was our weekly sanctuary, an eternal song that seized us wholly. Yet as we gaze toward darkness, a depression falls: the dreadful spectre of losing Eurosport's cycling from British shores. A cruel leap from the gentle £9 to a forbidding £30-plus, stilling the familiar voices that whispered like treasured companions.

And Roland Garros, that beloved sanctuary, drifted beyond our grasp, leaving Wimbledon to gleam alone while our dwelling echoes with sorrowful silence. For two weeks, I withdrew into solitude, and the sport that once kindled such radiance now carries a bittersweet sting. For reasons our hearts comprehend, let us cling to the love that endures. Who could defend such burdensome sums when these sacred events should rest within our reach, not cast into the void?

For 34 years, Eurosport wove a tapestry of immortal moments, crowned by the Olympic flame – memories we cannot bear to see extinguished. So we beseech you, Discovery, rekindle that sacred fire: forge a covenant of modest price, honouring Eurosport's heritage and true worth, echoing our most cherished remembrances, keeping these treasures living and near.

Without this grace, cycling's magnificent legacy risks dissolving into shadow – no Tour de France gracing our screens from 2026, only phantom glimmers on forsaken channels, a whispered echo of the roaring splendour we yearn for. I envision myself adrift for a near month during Le Tour, and fourteen days estranged from Roland Garros, longing for autumn's gentle solace.

Yet we must not dismiss your shining moments, Discovery – as when you bestowed Milano-Cortina for merely £3.99, delivering every breathless instant with a generosity that moved the soul. Others leave a taste less honeyed, a memory we'd rather forget, dimming the vista of something transcendent.

Restore our beloved French dreams, and you shall claim our eternal allegiance – whether £3.99 monthly for that French reverie or £8.99 for Eurosport's full splendour. We implore you, with hearts laid bare, to heal this wound, to dispel the dread of a world beyond our grasp. Let this entreaty become a vow, rekindling the luminescence that has illuminated our days through endless years.

What a horrible and poorly made service. You pay a monthly subscription and when it stops working entirely for no reason you are the mercy of the most useless people who have ever walked the planet, which is most likely on purpose, a wall of dense idiots. The first 2 told me to turn it on and off again, I had to remind them this was a subscription service not a reuter. Honestly use anyone else, even the pirate streams have a better UI than this garbage when it did work.

Also when you try to cancel or get a refund, best of luck with these scammers, prepare to get the run around.

If you enjoy watching adverts then this is the one for you! £30.99 a month to watch ads that even interrupt live events. And having to sign in evry time is so annoying especially when it’s not always straight forward. Move to a different device in the house and time is wasted trying to sign in yet again. Once paid and signed in that should be that on that device. No other option in UK if you’ve justifiably left BBC. A swindle at £30.99

Why am I paying a subscription for this garbage, they put a series on then don’t make all the episodes available , for example expedition x, there is only the first 7 episodes available for each series , crazy , will be cancelling my subscription shortly

Absolute rip-off. There’s no two ways about it. Whatever greedy thugs are running this shit show have gone way way too far. £400 a year to watch cycling is so far beyond a joke it’s simply unsubscribable!

In January 2026 I subscribed to Discovery+ as we were excited by the prospect of watching the Australian Tennis coverage.

Unfortunately, our viewing of the tournament was completely ruined by technical issues.

These included:

Poor picture quality where it was impossible to see the trajectory of the ball. I have a JVC smart TV so this is not the problem.
Syncing issues where you could hear the next rally being played (without pictures) whilst commentators were talking about the previous rally which was still on screen.
Delays in the movement of the ball compared to the point of impact on the racket.
Complete lack of sync between commentators' delivery of commentary and lip movement.

I could go on.

I tried rebooting the whole system (TV, Wifi, App) without success. I do not have these problems with Now TV that provides Premiership football matches on Sky TV.

Discovery+ deny there is an issue but I have also googled the problem and it seems there have been numerous issues and complaints with the service over the years. I note also their Trustpilot rating is one star.

I am very disappointed that an organisation of this size and turnover has not addressed this problem.

Customer service I suspect responded via a bot with standard responses.

I will not subscribe to this service again they have resolved these issues.

I watch Discovery+ through my TV as well as the live Discovery channel, and I find the volume and repetition of advertisements on Discovery+ extremely disruptive. After only a few minutes of viewing, programmes are repeatedly interrupted by adverts, often showing the same advertisements multiple times within a single hour. This repetition not only detracts from the viewing experience but can also have the opposite of the intended effect, making the adverts irritating rather than engaging.
The constant interruptions make it difficult to become immersed in the programmes, and the overall experience feels overly dominated by advertising. Given the consistently low user ratings for Discovery+, it is disappointing that meaningful improvements do not appear to have been made, particularly as user feedback and reviews are generally intended to drive positive change.