Subscribers Ask Court to Keep Paramount+ and HBO Max Separate
Five plaintiffs filed a preliminary injunction motion on October 16 asking a federal judge to preserve separate streaming services while their antitrust case proceeds.
Five streaming subscribers filed a preliminary injunction motion in federal court on October 16 asking that the Warner Bros. Discovery businesses and assets acquired by Paramount Skydance be operated separately pending a final ruling in their antitrust case, according to deadline.com.
The 16-page motion, filed by Pamela Faust, Len Marazzo, Lisa McCarthy, Deborah Rubinsohn and Gary Talewsky, acknowledges that the merger has closed. It does not seek to undo the closing.
The proposed order would bar the defendants from eliminating the standalone Paramount+ or HBO Max subscription products or compelling subscribers to migrate to a single replacement service. It also requires records detailed enough to reconstruct separate revenues, expenditures, contractual rights, subscribers, content rights and material assets for each business.
The plaintiffs want a December 3 hearing before U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín. They are represented by the Alioto Law Firm and Foreman & Brasso. A full dismissal hearing in the case was already set for October 21.
Judge Martínez-Olguín dismissed the case, first filed in April, in August for lack of standing but allowed the plaintiffs to refile. The $111 billion merger was made official on September 30.
Quick answers
What does the injunction motion ask for?
It asks the court to keep the acquired Warner Bros. Discovery businesses and assets separate while the case proceeds, and to preserve standalone Paramount+ and HBO Max services.
When is the hearing?
The plaintiffs requested a December 3 hearing before Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín. A full dismissal hearing was set for October 21.
Does the motion seek to undo the merger?
No. The motion acknowledges the merger has closed and does not seek rescission of the closing.