Judge Tosses Consumer Suit Against Warner Bros. Merger

A federal judge has dismissed a consumer-led antitrust lawsuit challenging the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín found that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue, stating their claims were based on a general assertion of being consumers rather than a specific, demonstrable injury.

The judge noted the plaintiffs alleged only a single historical price increase on Paramount+, which was not uniformly experienced by all five plaintiffs. Despite this dismissal, the consumers have been granted permission to submit an amended complaint. This ruling comes as Judge Martínez-Olguín also oversees separate antitrust cases brought by state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America regarding the same merger.

These other related cases have a trial date scheduled for March. The consumer lawsuit was initially filed in April, prior to the state attorneys general filing their action. The plaintiffs in the consumer case had argued that the acquisition would lead to increased prices and reduced viewpoint diversity, and had also sought the divestiture of Skydance's prior acquisition of Paramount Global. Paramount's legal team contended that the plaintiffs lacked standing and failed to articulate a plausible claim of competitive harm.