Ellison’s Paramount-Warner Win Humiliates His Critics

David Ellison’s critics lost their fight this week in their attempts to stop Paramount Skydance from acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, and they lost because their case was built more on politics than on a serious argument about competition. The settlement with 12 Democratic state attorneys general removes the largest remaining obstacle to the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal. With the agreement in place, Ellison is now positioned to close the transaction before October 1, when Paramount would’ve faced a $7 million daily fee to Warner Bros. Discovery. That deadline gave the states leverage, but it didn’t give them a convincing reason to kill a merger that would help two legacy Hollywood companies compete. For months, Ellison’s opponents tried to frame this as a battle over monopoly power, newsroom freedom, and the future of California filmmaking. But those claims never matched the market. Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery aren’t buying up a helpless industry. They’re trying to survive in an entertainment business where Netflix, Apple, Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon have more money, more data, and bigger platforms than old Hollywood studios can match on their own. The idea that P...