Tag

Consolidation

Articles and publications tagged Consolidation across the Atmosphere.

14articles1publication

Articles

Publications

TechdirtOct 8, 2026

Right On Cue: Here Comes The Skydance/Paramount Layoffs

You can set your watch to it.Major media companies insist they simply have to merge to create all manner of amazing new "consolidative synergies." The debt from the acquisitions then result in brand and company cannibalization as labor and consumers are forced to carry the load. The net result is mass layoffs, higher prices, and...

consolidationdavid ellison

TechdirtOct 7, 2026

Paramount, Warner Bros Formally Merge, Form Giant Mountain Of Disastrous Debt

Larry Ellison has succeeded in fusing Paramount and Warner Brothers in a $110 billion merger that will culminate in mass layoffs, higher prices, lower-quality product, and news outlets like CNN becoming even more friendly to corporate power and the U.S. right wing. This enshittification will arrive despite endless promises by the Ellisons that none of...

consolidationdavid ellison

TechdirtSep 28, 2026

Free Speech, Consumer Groups Make Last Ditch Effort To Block Paramount Merger

Last week California Democrats -- including Governor Gavin Newsom, LA Mayor Karen Bass, and AG Rob Bonta buckled under pressure and got 12 states to drop their antitrust lawsuit against Paramount's $111 billion merger with Warner Brothers. Worse: they did so without affixing any meaningful conditions or divestments, ensuring that the deal, as with all...

antitrustaraceli martinez-olguin

TechdirtSep 23, 2026

‘Independent CNN Oversight Board’ To Be Hand Picked By Paramount

Earlier this week we noted how California Democrats fecklessly folded to Paramount's demands and settled the 12-state antitrust lawsuit against Paramount's $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. We also noted how the conditions affixed to the deal are largely pathetic, and generally consist of a lot of performative fluff Paramount itself recommended and California AG...

consolidationcorruption

TechdirtSep 21, 2026

California AG Rob Bonta Caves, Paramount Merger To Proceed With Flimsy Conditions

California AG Rob Bonta has caved to what was a relentless, bipartisan pressure campaign to settle the 12 state antitrust lawsuit against Paramount. The AGs sued Paramount last July, arguing (correctly) that the $111 billion deal would largely be anti-competitive, resulting in mass layoffs as the even bigger Larry Ellison-owned company forces labor and consumers...

antitrustcalifornia

TechdirtSep 18, 2026

Comcast NBC Universal Is Scared To Release The New Elon Musk Documentary

Have I mentioned lately that media consolidation is bad and people who care about an informed electorate and democratic integrity should fight to restore federal media consolidation limits illegally destroyed by the Trump administration and FCC boss Brendan Carr?Anyway, there's a new Alex Gibney documentary coming out about Elon Musk that takes him to task...

alex gibneyconsolidation

TechdirtSep 16, 2026

Paramount Funds, ‘Leaks’ Dodgy Study Saying California Will Suffer If Its Merger Is Blocked

Larry and David Ellison are desperate to get their unpopular $111 billion merger between Paramount/CBS and Warner Brothers across the finish line. So they've been engaging in no shortage of dodgy behavior to try and derail the only thing left standing in their way: the 12-state antitrust lawsuit claiming that more media consolidation is anti-competitive...

californiaconsolidation

TechdirtSep 8, 2026

Paramount Caught Using ‘Astroturf’ Group To Drum Up Fake Support For Merger

We've well established how the $111 billion Paramount and Warner Brothers merger is terrible for labor, creatives, consumers, and markets. But the kind of behaviors Paramount leadership have been engaged in to sell the deal also give a pretty clear indication what kind of company we're dealing with, and why they shouldn't be allowed to...

astroturfcalifornia

TechdirtSep 4, 2026

Tom Cruise Parrots Paramount’s Empty Merger Promises Because He Loves His ‘Hollywood Family’

Just so we're clear: pre-merger promises (especially in the media and telecom sectors) are absolutely worthless. There's fifty years of indisputable evidence that all of the "synergies" and innovative improvements promised on the front end of major media mergers mean absolutely nothing. Especially in a country dead-set on defanging its labor and consumer protection regulators.To...

aiastroturf

TechdirtAug 27, 2026

LA Mayor Karen Bass The Latest Democrat To Wimp Out On Paramount Merger

The unpopular Paramount Warner Brothers merger should have been a perfect opportunity for Democrats to demonstrate they are finally serious about stuff like media consolidation, right wing propaganda, media reform, and antitrust after decades of policy incoherence. Instead, numerous prominent California Democrats have been buckling to Paramount demands aimed at settling a 12-state antitrust lawsuit...

antitrustconsolidation

TechdirtAug 18, 2026

The Ellisons Again Threaten To Move CBS/Paramount Somewhere Shittier And Hotter If State Antitrust Lawsuit Isn’t Settled

Paramount bosses Larry and David Ellison aren't having much fun in the wake of a 12 state antitrust lawsuit that risks derailing their $111 billion attempt to dominate what's left of U.S. corporate media. There's been a certain creeping desperation apparent the last month or two; whether it's the company's top lawyer claiming that critics...

agitpropbari weiss

TechdirtAug 14, 2026

Paramount Promises Meaningless CNN ‘Oversight Board’ To Try And Gain Merger Approval

It's always the same routine.Before each giant merger the companies promise that the new combined entity will deliver the sea, moon, and stars. We're told the consolidation will result in untold synergies, massive job growth, and incredible new innovation. Yet in a country too corrupt to have functional antitrust enforcement or working regulators, what we...

antitrustconsolidation

TechdirtAug 13, 2026

‘Trump Said A Thing’ Journalism Must Stop

One obvious byproduct of letting what's left of U.S. journalism consolidate in the hands of a bunch of giant corporations is the end result winds up being a feckless mess. Generally corporations don't want to upset advertisers, ownership (usually Conservative, white, and male), event sponsors, or potential advertising targets, so their journalism winds up being...

ceo said a thingconsolidation

TechdirtJul 28, 2026

Paramount Merger Gets Further Delayed, And Things Could Get Expensive

Just as Larry Ellison and Paramount executives had worried, the state antitrust challenge to their $111 billion merger with Warner Brothers has resulted in significant delays that could prove terminal.Two weeks ago California and eleven other states filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the merger, pointing out that the consolidation would undermine market competition, resulting...

consolidationhollywood

You've reached the end.