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Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird wrote in an op-ed for The Daily Wirethat she is suing California for leading the charge in the lawsuit against the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
“California is once again trying to
be the country’s regulator. And once again California is defying common sense to raise costs around the country,” Bird wrote. “That makes this a dispute between states, and the Constitution says those can only be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court.”
It’s unclear if Bird has filed any paperwork for her lawsuit or if there’s any legal authority that the state of Iowa could invoke. However, the threat of taking California to the Supreme Court may be enough to bring the state’s AG Rob Bonta back to the bargaining table.
Bird argues that “any Iowa family” would tell you the cost of streaming is too high and that there are “fewer quality shows” to choose from. She says these are symptoms of one company getting “too far in front,” and the competitors being “too small to catch up.”
A merger between Paramount and Warner Bros., she writes, would remedy this.
“Netflix dominates the market for streaming,” Bird wrote. “Paramount+ and HBO Max together are smaller than Netflix, smaller than Disney, and smaller than Amazon. The merger could create a company to compete: an estimated $6 billion in savings to reinvest, and a public commitment to release at least 30 movies in theaters every year. More movies mean more entertainment — and more competition means lower prices.”
She called Paramount’s promise to release 30 theatrical films a year a “big deal,” adding, “That means more real choice for the family deciding which subscription to keep and which to cancel; more entertainment for small-town theaters to put on the marquee; and even more work for the crews who build sets and run cameras. Iowans do not need an economist to explain that.”
In addition to hurting consumers, Bird asserts that the uncertainty, along with Paramount’s $7 million ticking fee, will pull down an industry that’s just starting to get back on its feet.
“Two storied American companies are frozen,” she added. “Warner Bros. cannot confidently green-light a film, upgrade its technology, or sign a long-term contract without knowing whether it will exist as an independent company next year. Paramount cannot execute its plans without a merger either. Employees cannot plan careers. And a movie that does not get made this year may never get made at all. Financing expires, talent moves on, and production slates are abandoned. No court ruling in 2027 can go back and produce the film that was never shot. And no Iowan will ever get to see that movie either.”
Bonta, along with 11 other state AGs, sued to stop the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger in July after the DOJ pushed the deal through. Progress toward a settlement seemed in motion after the AGs and Paramount agreed to a sit-down on Monday. However, Bonta called off the meeting at the last minute accusing the studio of leaking information about their settlement discussions.
Paramount denied having anything to do with the leaks, writing in a statement that they “share AG Bonta’s concerns about the public discussions and misreporting that has surrounded this deal.” Still, Bonta doubled down. He said the AGs and Paramount “don’t have anything scheduled,” and that they won’t return to settlement talks until the studio puts a “lid on their lying leaks.”
