Los Angeles entertainment workers protest Paramount-Skydance merger over job and competition risks

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Entertainment workers protest merger

Highlights

About 100 workers and advocacy groups rally in Los Angeles against the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, citing threats to jobs and competition.
Hollywood loses 17,234 entertainment jobs between 2019–2023, with sound-stage occupancy falling to 62% in H1 2025 and IATSE reporting members working 36% fewer hours than in 2022.
California and New York are preparing lawsuits to block the merger as critics argue it would reduce studio competition and further strain industry employment.

Los Angeles rally targets merger approval

As reported by Reuters, about 100 people gather at Lumiere Music Hall in Los Angeles on Saturday for the first stop of a three-city “Main Street vs. The Merger” tour opposing Paramount Skydance's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The event is organized by advocacy groups, the Writers Guild of America and industry workers who say the combination threatens jobs, creative output and the broader entertainment economy.

Stand-up comedian Adam Conover, a featured speaker at the rally, describes ongoing media consolidation as an existential threat to an industry that helped make the U.S. a cultural power. He points to his own experience after AT&T's 2018 acquisition of Time Warner, saying the cancellation of his TruTV show “Adam Ruins Everything” put employees, contractors and more than 100 others out of work.

Paramount Skydance argues the combination would not harm rival studios or creative talent, and Chief Executive David Ellison has pledged the combined Paramount and Warner studios would release at least 30 films a year. But sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters that states including California and New York are preparing a lawsuit to block the deal.

Employment strain sharpens industry concerns

Opponents of the merger say the transaction lands at a weak moment for Hollywood employment. California loses 17,234 entertainment jobs from 2019 through 2023, according to the Milken Institute, which says shrinking television advertising revenue and stagnating streaming growth push studios to seek lower-cost production locations.

Film LA says Hollywood sound-stage occupancy falls to 62% in the first half of 2025, down from near-full occupancy in 2016. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, representing 170,000 behind-the-scenes workers, says its members work about 36% fewer hours than in 2022.

Matt Radecki, co-founder of Los Angeles post-production facility Different by Design, says he fears a merged Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery would mean fewer buyers for documentary films. Former Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya says California Attorney General Rob Bonta could try to block the merger by arguing it reduces competition among film studios and harms workers, while economist Ioana Marinescu says U.S. authorities already have a precedent for challenging deals on labor-market grounds.

In our earlier report on WalletHub’s state income ranking, we noted that Virginia took the top spot by balancing high median earnings with a more even income distribution. The same analysis showed New York’s sizable income gap weighing on its placement, while California ranked lower than expected amid signs of high-wealth resident outflows to lower-tax states.

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