A planned merger of two major streaming platforms, HBO Max and Paramount+, may not be happening after all.
The plan was announced back in March after Netflix dropped out of the bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery. However, a federal judge has now imposed a restraining order preventing the transaction from completing – at least for now …
The deal was to see Paramount acquire Warner Bros Discovery, resulting in the company’s respective streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount+ being integrated into a single service.
Paramount executives didn’t offer any details on how the company may price a combined service or what it would be called. Still, Paramount CEO David Ellison said he wouldn’t disrupt the HBO brand. “HBO should stay HBO,” he said, citing its long history of quality programming. HBO is likely to be a sub-brand within the larger service, according to a person familiar with Paramount’s plans.
Viewers were not exactly enthusiastic about the plan, concerned that it would reduce competition and thus increase prices. A coalition of 12 state attorneys general agreed, and asked a federal court to impose a temporary restraining order on the transaction. NBC News reports that this has now been granted.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern District of California issued a temporary restraining order barring Paramount from closing the transaction, a corporate tie-up that would unite two movie studios, two streaming platforms and two news organizations under the control of David Ellison, the son of billionaire technology tycoon Larry Ellison.
The restraining order will last for 14 days while arguments are heard. Even if Paramount prevails in this case, the merger plan are also being reviewed by both the European Union and the UK government. The Writers Guild of America has also filed an antitrust lawsuit on the basis that the merger would result in fewer jobs and lower pay.
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Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!
