A proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance is being framed as an “existential threat” to the American cultural industry, according to stand-up comedian Adam Conover, who spoke at a protest event on Saturday.
“It’s about to die, and that’s why I feel so passionately about this issue,” Conover stated, addressing a gathering in Los Angeles.
The event marked the first stop of a “Main Street vs. The Merger” tour, uniting entertainment workers, small business owners, and politicians in opposition to the deal.
Approximately 100 people convened at Lumiere Music Hall, organized by advocacy groups, the Writers Guild of America, and industry workers concerned about the merger’s implications.
While U.S. antitrust regulators appear poised to approve the combination, citing assurances from Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison that the merged entity would remain productive by releasing at least 30 films annually, a coalition of U.S. states, including California and New York, are reportedly preparing a lawsuit to block the transaction.
Conover’s personal experience highlights the human cost of media consolidation. His TruTV show, “Adam Ruins Everything,” was canceled following AT&T’s 2018 acquisition of Time Warner, leading to the unemployment of “countless” contractors and over 100 other individuals.
This reflects a broader trend in the entertainment industry, where employment has steadily declined since its peak in late 2022.
California, a hub for the industry, has been particularly hard hit, shedding 17,234 positions between 2019 and 2023, according to the Milken Institute.
Factors such as shrinking television advertising revenue and stagnating streaming growth have prompted studios to seek more cost-effective production locations.
The occupancy rate on Hollywood’s sound stages has plummeted to 62% in the first half of 2025, a stark contrast to the near-full occupancy seen in 2016, according to Film LA.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, representing 170,000 behind-the-scenes professionals, noted that its members worked approximately 36% fewer hours than in 2022.
Matt Radecki, co-founder of the Los Angeles-based post-production facility Different by Design, voiced concerns that a Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger would reduce the number of potential buyers for documentary films, citing the Oscar-winning “Navalny,” produced by HBO Max and CNN Films.
“This is the biggest thing that we’ve faced,” Radecki told attendees. “The places we work with are closed … They’re gone, and they’re never coming back, and we don’t want to see that happen to HBO or CNN or CNN Films.”
Former Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya expressed optimism that California Attorney General Rob Bonta could successfully challenge the merger by arguing it would lessen competition among film studios, thereby indirectly impacting workers.
This approach could draw on a precedent set in 2022, when antitrust authorities blocked publisher Penguin Random House’s bid to acquire rival Simon & Schuster by arguing it would decrease competition for specific types of labor.
Ioana Marinescu, a University of Pennsylvania economist who authored the Biden-era Justice Department’s guidelines on labor market issues, suggested California could leverage this precedent.
“For some workers it could be that jobs at these two companies are really special, and this is really what they want,” she explained. “And there isn’t necessarily a very close substitute. And those are the people for whom it’s going to make an adverse impact.”
