The verdict is in. The Writers Guild of America (WGA), made up of the Writers Guild of America East and the Writers Guild of America West, reached an agreement in its antitrust lawsuit against Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
Although the WGA was not able to stop the merger all together, they shared the terms of their settlement including, according to Variety, “with an agreement from Paramount to prohibit writer layoffs at CBS News Broadcast for 5 years, and to pay $17.5 million to our health fund along with our attorneys’ fees in the litigation.“
The WGA promises to continue to warn about the danger of this merger and similar mergers. The organization notes the apparent effect the merger will have on the television industry, including suppressing writers’ wages and overall creation.
The WGA also indirectly criticized the government’s lack of support for the organization’s members and the industry’s best interests, noting that government enforcers offered no aid.
The WGA closed out its statement by stressing, “As the number of outlets to sell our work to and the corresponding diversity of programming shrinks, we need industry-wide structural separation between streamers and studios to promote competition in programming,” according to Variety. The group referenced previous protections such as the 1970 Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, which were dismantled in the early 1990s.
In July, the WGA filed the lawsuit, arguing that the proposed merger could violate federal antitrust laws and disadvantage writers throughout the entertainment industry.
The lawsuit was settled early Monday with numerous other conditions including, according to mxdwn, a requirement to “negotiate carriage deals separately and prevent the company from selling or closing either studio lot during the agreement,” and to “establish a five-member News Editorial Independence Board for the combined company’s news operations.”
With these new conditions in place, Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery are expected to move forward with the merger.
