WEBVTT - Paramount's Ultimatum: Let Us Merge or We Leave California 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:04.600 The GNC News Blitz with Radi wag starts. 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:05.320 No, No, No. 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.719 It is the News Blitz with Randy Wang on Talk 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:13.280 Radio seven ninety KABC. This is your daily rundown of 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:16.040 everything you need to know that's going on in the 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:21.840 state of California, Southern California, the Bay Area, Sacramento, San Diego, 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:24.880 and the Central Valley. I compile a list every single 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:26.960 day of all the stories that I found that I 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:31.080 find interesting that you may have missed at Randywangradio dot 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:35.519 substack dot com. That's Randywangradio dot substack dot com. 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We start with 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:05.119 the war of words that is happening right now between 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:12.520 Paramount Pictures and their CEO, David Ellison and Bob Banta, 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:21.679 because Paramount has issued quite the ultimatum if Rob Bonta, 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:26.240 the Attorney General of the State of California, and the 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:30.920 other I believe twelve attorneys generals that also filed this 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:38.120 antitrust suit to stop this merger from Paramount Pictures buying 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:44.479 Warner Brothers Discovery. Then Paramount on October first, is going 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:52.040 to leave the state of California. Now, when this lawsuit 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:56.080 was originally announced, Paramount made a similar threat, but they 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:58.680 did not put any kind of date on it. They 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:01.640 just said we're going to look in to leaving the 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:06.880 state of California. Now, there's probably a lot of mixed 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.560 opinions on both sides of this story, and this just 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:15.160 happens to be one of these stories where there's no hero, 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:22.200 there's no villain. Everybody involved just kind of sucks because 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.680 you look at what Bob Bonta is trying to do here, 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:31.440 and it is very obviously political. Some would argue it 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:34.760 could be for personal gain. There have been some that 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:40.360 have argued that this is a backdoor favor to Netflix because, 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:45.440 as many including Spencer Prade, have pointed out, when originally 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:51.519 this deal to buy Warner Brothers was Netflix, Bob Bonta 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:57.000 didn't have any problem with it, so that's definitely all true. 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:01.040 At the same time, I'm not a big fan of 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:04.959 all the mergers that have been happening in the entertainment business. 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:06.320 I should know. 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:09.640 I work in radio, where it's pretty much down to 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.720 three companies, and that hasn't worked out well for anybody. 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.680 I don't like the fact that there was this massive 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:22.519 merger for Skuydance to merge with Paramount, and then almost 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:26.480 immediately it's let's leverage that merger after we did a 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:29.839 bunch of layoffs to buy another studio. 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.120 I'm just not a fan of the way this operates. 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:39.040 That being said, there are some legitimate concerns on both 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:43.160 sides here. I'm not totally decided who's in the right 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:45.440 and who's in the wrong here, but I don't like 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:51.040 either of these guys. For one, If the argument that 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:55.080 Paramount is making that we need to do this merger 0:03:56.000 --> 0:04:00.440 with Warner Brothers Discovery because we're getting killed in the 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:06.360 streaming market, they're right. You add up the number of 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:13.040 subscribers that people have for HBO Max and Paramount Plus, 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:19.120 and it's nothing compared to what Netflix has, or compared 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:23.520 to the amount of viewership that is on YouTube. And 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:29.040 we broadcast on YouTube. YouTube is the largest video streaming 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:32.400 platform in the world. There are a lot of young 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:36.880 people who don't watch a whole lot of broadcast television 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:43.920 or even broadcast television shows streamed onto the apps, because well, 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:46.159 you have to pay for a subscription or watch a 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:48.720 lot of ads to see some of those apps, and 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:52.600 some people prefer to just watch things for free, either 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:58.400 with ads or with the premium subscription on YouTube. I 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.919 watch a lot of stuff on you you think about 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.320 all the content that I watch when I'm going to 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:07.960 bed that I could be giving to the streaming services. 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.640 And when my wife's in town, Yeah, we'll pop on 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.240 the old Peacock, which is another streaming service that is 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:18.800 not doing that well, and you we will watch repeats 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:21.159 of The Office or Parks and rec or Thirty Rock 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.480 or what have you. You know, all the shows from 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.880 like a generation and a half ago that are really 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:29.840 great bedtime material because it's comforting to watch something you've 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:32.600 already seen. But you know, it's even more comforting than that. 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:36.320 If I'm home alone, I turn on YouTube and I 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:39.440 watch which if you go through my YouTube and it's like, 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.200 what is the channel you watch the most, it's this guy, 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:47.640 j Rose eleven. He has a very popular YouTube channel. 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:51.679 I think he has four hundred thousand subscribers, and all 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:57.279 he does is he posts videos of him doing solo 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:02.440 runs of Pokemon Red and Blue, the original game boy 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.920 games from nineteen ninety six, and he'll pick one out 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:09.240 of the one hundred and fifty Pokemon and do the 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:13.159 entire run with just that thing. It is monotonous. It 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.719 is the same thing over and over and over again, 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.560 and damn it, I've watched almost every single one that 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.920 he's done. It is very addictive, it is very comforting. 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:26.240 So yeah, there's there's a lot of time that I'm 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:29.000 given to YouTube that I'm not given to Netflix or 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.159 Paramount or HBO Max. So when it comes to the 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:37.440 streaming aspect of it, I do understand why this merger 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:42.279 may make sense. That being said, I find it to 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:48.120 be so funny. How right as COVID began, like right 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:56.480 before COVID began, all the studios, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Disney, 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:03.440 they were all so upset with how much attention Netflix 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.200 was getting. And I will say I was one of 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.520 the earliest adopters of Netflix for streaming. I mean, I 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:12.800 had Netflix back when it was you just mail the DVDs. 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:17.560 But they also when they launched their streaming and their 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.680 streaming offerings in like two thousand and seven, I was 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:25.160 immediately an adopter of this. Also, when Hulu launched in 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:27.320 two thousand and seven, I was all about this and 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.760 knew that streaming was going to be the future because 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:36.240 I cut my cable cord in two thousand end. I 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:38.320 don't even know if I ever had it now. I 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:40.240 must have had it for a little while when I 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:44.440 lived in my studio apartment in Studio City, excuse me, 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.080 Valley Village. I think I cut it in like two 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:51.200 thousand and nine or twenty ten, and I watched everything 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.760 on streaming, and everything just kind of grew, and there 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.240 were shows that became popularized through whether it was streaming 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:02.120 or which is so far. Remember how we used to 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:06.080 buy shows on iTunes, And do you remember how the 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:10.360 Writer's Strike of two thousand and eight was almost exclusively 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:15.640 about the revenue share that the writers would get for 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:20.680 when people buy episodes of the Office on iTunes for 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:24.520 a dollar ninety nine. And then most immediately everything moved 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:28.240 to streaming, and then well, so you go back to 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:32.640 twenty seventeen twenty eighteen. Netflix is still losing a ton 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:36.520 of money, but because they're paying all these studios to 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:40.839 license all of their content. I mean, The Office had 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.520 a whole second life because it was available on Netflix. 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:45.079 It's so funny. 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.120 The Office, which is a show that now everybody has 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:50.760 seen a million times like on wasn't that way when 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:53.000 it first came out. And one of the reasons The 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:57.480 Office didn't get canceled in like its early seasons is 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.760 because so many people were watching it on iTunes and 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:03.840 buying the episodes that was like, there's something here. Well, 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:05.920 The Office, after it goes off the air, becomes this 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:09.640 show that everybody is watching on repeat in the background 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:10.760 as their bedtime show. 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:12.800 And it was for a thing a. 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:16.640 Really long time, like the most successful thing on Netflix. 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.840 On top of their original content, which you know, some 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:23.839 of their original content is great, you know, ten years ago, 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:27.760 some of their original content was terrible. Even those new 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:30.959 seasons of Arrested Development there are much harder to rewatch 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:35.760 than the first three seasons. So Disney's like, I got 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:38.200 to get in on this. Sure, we own a piece 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.520 of Hulu, and Hulu used to be like a joint 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:45.240 venture between ABC and NBC and Fox because at this 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:48.080 point Fox was a different company than Disney. Yeah, there 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.719 was another merger that Bob Bonted didn't have any problems with, 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:55.200 or Disney gobbling up Lucasfilm, or Disney gobbling up Marvel 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:57.120 didn't have any problems with any of those. Those are 0:09:57.160 --> 0:10:02.720 all very legitimate concerns. But Disney's like, all right, we're 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:07.319 gonna make our own streaming platform Disney Plus and Universes 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.720 like we're gonna make our own streaming platform Peacock and 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:14.079 Paramount says we're gonna come out with Paramount Plus. And HBO, 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:19.480 which had HBO Go then it turned into HBO Now 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:23.480 decided we're gonna launch HBO Max, and then a couple 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:26.200 of years later they changed that to just Max, and 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:31.080 then they changed it back to HBO Max. All within 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:33.320 the span of two years, which were, by the way, 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:34.559 the COVID years. 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:36.880 All of these services launch. 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:43.000 So you now go from having one to two subscriptions 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.800 you're paying for because you're probably paying your everyone had Netflix, 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.720 maybe you also had Hulu, and that pretty much covered it. 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:53.440 You got all your content, all the channels went to 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:58.000 either of those two platforms, and then if it was 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:00.280 anything that wasn't on there, you could buy it your elf. 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:05.280 You went from that too, having to have Netflix and 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:09.760 Hulu and Disney Plus, which and now those two are 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:13.480 merging because we've all realized it's too many, and you've 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:16.280 got and if you like sports, oh boy, ESPN Plus 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:19.480 and then Hbo and Paramount and Amazon, which has their 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:23.160 own whole thing, and you realize, wow, now I'm paying 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:24.360 as much as the cable bill. 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:25.480 What the heck is going on? 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:28.959 So there haven't been nearly as many adopters to all 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:32.320 these other streaming services as there has been to Netflix, 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:34.560 because there's only so much content you can watch in 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:38.600 a day. So almost immediately, all these companies that bent 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:43.200 big on streaming started losing tons and tons and tons 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.680 of money. And that's kind of how the ball got 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:49.520 rolling on these mega mergers, because these companies acquired so 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:56.080 much debt. So it's just funny to think about how 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.640 in order for them to all try to kill Netflix. 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.880 Netflix still is the top contender, and now a lot 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:06.640 of these studios they're making money by doing what they 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:10.000 were doing before they launched their own streaming services and 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.960 licensing their content to Netflix. Like some of their older content. 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:18.640 So it's just an interesting thing to think about. But 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:23.840 when it comes to the merits on Bob Bonta's side, 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:28.480 Bob Bonta in this op ed claims this has nothing 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.600 to do with streaming, and I think, just on a 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:36.200 straight argument, you cannot argue that paramount plus merging with 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:40.000 HBO Max creates a monopoly because it is a small 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:45.920 percentage of the market that's out there for streaming. But 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:49.920 when you talk about the aspect that Bob Bonta says 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:54.440 is the crux of his case, which is it's that 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:57.920 you're merging the movie studios and now there are fewer 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:02.600 movie studios and there's less competition as to what's getting 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:07.200 made and what's getting released. Maybe there is something there. 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:11.080 As we have seen with all these kinds of mega mergers, 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:14.319 they do lead to job losses. Of course, they get 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:17.360 rid of different kinds of redundancies. We've seen it over 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.120 and over and over again. And it's so funny how 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:22.200 some of these mega mergers are now like going out 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.600 on the other end where Comcast is trying to sell 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.200 off NBC and Universal after you know, they made that 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:34.240 massive mega merger and bought it from GM. It's it's 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:38.199 been an interesting time to just observe the entertainment business. 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:42.280 So yeah, there may be some legitimate concerns, but what 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:48.200 do you do here with this ultimatum where because of 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.000 and I don't need to go into like the intricacies 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:52.920 of this deal, but here's what you need to know 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:57.160 based on how this deal was struck. For Paramount to 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:04.400 buy Warner Brothers, they have to finish the transaction by 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:09.760 October first, or they start paying fees like seven million 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:14.520 dollars a month, which can definitely destroy the deal entirely. 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.559 If that starts lowering the share price of both companies, 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:19.800 what have you. I'm not a business and tech person, 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:23.920 but this is what I have seen and read and 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:28.200 heard from every other people talking about this. And so 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:32.440 that is why the new ultimatum that David Ellison has 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:36.680 put down on specifically Bonta, but it's not just Bonta. 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.960 There are eleven or twelve state attorneys general also filing 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:46.120 this lawsuit is if you don't settle with us and 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:50.320 drop the suit and let this mega merger go forward, 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:54.800 we're going to, as so many other companies have in 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:59.480 the state of California, leave one of the oldest and 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:05.440 large studios in Hollywood is threatening to leave, and billionaires 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:08.560 love spite, they might just do it, even though it 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:12.440 will cost a ton of money, just based on spite. 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.640 And of course this is all happening upon the backdrop 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:23.720 of California, specifically Los Angeles losing so much film business. Well, 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.720 I mean, you want to talk about how we now 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:31.560 celebrate this tax credit program that should have been re 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.720 upped in the state of California many years ago, that hey, 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:38.960 we're getting nine new projects that are coming to California 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.800 with this tax credit. Nine seems kind of low. Also, 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:44.520 it was really funny if you watch the rap that 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.800 I have on the Newsplitz for this piece, It's like, 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:52.680 here are the projects coming to California. A TV reboot 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:57.160 of Clueless and a reboot of The Rockford Files, And 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:00.520 it's like, wow, there really are no original ideas left 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:05.760 in the studios in Hollywood, the big ones. There's plenty 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.760 of original ideas with the young people, and you look 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:12.080 at obsession and back rooms, and there is a bright 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:16.320 future for the small independent producer. But things are changing 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:20.960 very rapidly in this industry, and this fight going on 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:25.480 certainly doesn't help because there are a lot of issues 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:31.480 that the California government that Los Angeles, California, Sacramento are 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:33.200 just straight up not addressing. 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.200 And tax credits one of them. 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:37.640 We need to be as competitive as the other states, 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:40.960 but there are so many other things. The permitting, the 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:45.000 mandatory permits for street closures and police you have to hire, 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:49.400 what have you. LA is not super friendly to film 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:51.880 production and nearly as much as they should be. But 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:55.880 dare I say this isn't even just an LA or 0:16:55.880 --> 0:17:00.600 a California problem anymore. The alarm should have been sounded 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:05.320 by all the studios, by all the unions, by all 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:13.000 the players involved. When Marvel moved Pinewood Studios to the UK. 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:15.960 I just went to go see that Spider Man movie, 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:18.520 just like everybody else. And you know, a lot of 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:22.000 the streets of New York City weren't shot in New 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:26.320 York City. They were shot in Glasgow. So I guess 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:32.280 Spider Man was at Fringefest. They were shot there. And 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:35.480 you're wondering why I thought Atlanta was like this haven 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.679 they've shot all the movies there. Well, this is the 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:42.120 part of the story that nobody really wants to talk 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:45.160 about because the electeds certainly won't talk about it because 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.080 when the electeds come out, whether it's Karen Bass or 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:51.320 Rick Chaves bur or Gavin Newsom with this is what's 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:55.160 going to save the film in the television industry, they 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:59.720 do it in consultation with the film and television unions. 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:02.840 And I am saying this as a union member, a 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:07.480 dues paying member of SAG after the unions are part 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:11.080 of the problem, and that is why so much production 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:14.160 is going to the UK and going to Canada. It's 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.360 not so much for the tax shelter, it's to avoid 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:21.720 the union rules and getting projects flip union what have you, 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:25.639 because the costs have gotten so unbelievably expensive and not 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:29.359 having any wiggle room to deal with the realities of 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:32.919 budgets right now is only going to cause more projects 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:36.879 to flee, not only Los Angeles, not only California, but 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:40.159 these United States. I'd love to open up the phones 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.159 right now. I'm sure a lot of people have a 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:44.760 lot of thoughts about this. Eight hundred two two two 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:47.960 five two two two one eight hundred two two two 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:52.880 five two two two. Paramount has an ultimatum, Bob Bonta, 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:56.919 drop your lawsuit or we're leaving the state of California. 0:18:57.480 --> 0:18:58.280 What say you? 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.679 Are you on Bonta's side, Are you on Paramount side? 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.480 What do you think about this mega merger and the 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.640 lawsuit blocking it? Give us a call eight hundred two 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.800 two two five two two two one, eight hundred two 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:12.480 two two five two two two. 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:13.399 You can also. 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:16.479 Email us at Randy Wang Radio at gmail dot com. 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:20.000 It's the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:22.640 It's the News. 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:27.480 Blitz with Randy Wang on Talk radio seven ninety KABC. 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:31.040 You can email us at Randy Wang Radio at gmail 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:32.959 dot com, and you can give us a call at 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:36.040 eight hundred two two two five two two two one. 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:39.200 Eight hundred two two two five two two two. Carry 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:42.560 rights in at Randy Wang Radio at gmail dot com. 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:47.600 Paramount Seriously, Yeah, as if Tom klue Cruise is willing 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:55.520 to relocate, Yeah, probably not. In case you're not gonna 0:19:55.560 --> 0:20:00.600 go to deadline and read Bob Bonta's op ed, well, 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:04.560 we could go ahead and read it for you. Let's 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:08.240 hear what Bob Bonta has to say in his own 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:13.280 words as to why he's not backing down despite Paramount 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:17.359 pictures threatening to move out of the state. Of California 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:21.400 by October if they don't get this mega. 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:23.240 Merger to buy Warner Brothers. 0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:29.000 Despite the spin you may have heard in recent weeks, 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:33.000 the lawsuit my colleagues and I have filed challenging the 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:37.800 paramount sky Dance and Warner Brothers Discovery merger isn't about 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:42.399 trusting the intentions of one company or one man. It 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.920 isn't about trusting that CBS News and CNN will remain 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:50.240 independent and credible under one umbrella. I never understood what 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:55.520 was so like is so scary about, Oh no, CNN 0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:58.200 and CBS might merge. Do you know how many news 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:02.840 outlets there are out there? This also isn't about the 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:07.080 future of string Also, NBC News and MSNBC were both 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:09.320 under the same operation and they didn't you know, they 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:14.080 had multiple channels and multiple news people. But whatever, This 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:18.520 isn't about the future of streaming. This lawsuit is about 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:23.840 anti trust law. It is a straight up anti trust 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:28.800 enforcement case, one that is very cut and dry, one 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:32.880 that seeks to prevent the long term structural impact from 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.280 loss of competition. I just realized I'm starting to do 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:39.159 a Rob Bonta impression, and I shouldn't do that. But 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:42.600 it's definitely something that I could do. Because I've heard 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:45.840 a lot of this guy for quite a while. He's 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:49.639 full of cliche. Every type of leadership is about meeting 0:21:49.640 --> 0:21:52.320 the moment and rising to the occasion, and this is 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:55.520 what's required, and so we're stepping up and getting it done. 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:58.160 This case is one that seeks to prevent the long 0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:03.320 term structural impact from the loss of competition, an impact 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:07.879 that can't be remedied with a few, one off, piecemeal promises. 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:11.600 So while others may try to flip the script cliche 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:15.000 and distract from the facts, I will lay out the 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:20.000 truth of this case. The proposed merger, the largest in 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:24.679 Hollywood history, would combine two Hollywood Titans and create an 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:31.399 illegal level of concentration in three markets, film distribution for 0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:39.160 wide release films, anticipated blockbuster film distribution, and cable TV. Well, 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:44.480 cable TV's going away, kiddos. Cable TV is a house 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:51.080 of cards, and unfortunately, the more cord cutting that happens 0:22:51.520 --> 0:22:53.879 and the more a la carte that people get, and 0:22:53.920 --> 0:22:57.080 it is a very generational thing. There are people that 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:00.520 will not give up their cable no matter what. And 0:23:00.560 --> 0:23:03.159 then you get to my generation, and there are people 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:07.680 that will never ever ever get cable. But you ever 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:12.080 wonder what goes into your cable bill? You know why 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:15.040 you have to pay for channel Why you can't just 0:23:15.160 --> 0:23:17.320 pick the channels that you would watch, Why you have 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:21.800 to buy packages, because that's how those other channels exist. 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:24.119 There are not enough. 0:23:24.000 --> 0:23:29.280 People who would watch the golf channel to pay for 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:33.280 the infrastructure of the golf channel. Same can be said 0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:37.000 for the tennis channel as well. You get to pay 0:23:37.040 --> 0:23:40.480 your one hundred plus dollars a month to subsidize all 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:43.399 the channels that you're not watching, just to get the 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:50.880 channels that you are watching. Just something to think about, Okay, 0:23:50.960 --> 0:23:54.879 so let's keep going. This is Bob Bonta's op ed 0:23:55.119 --> 0:23:58.800 in Deadline, trying to explain his position as to why 0:23:58.840 --> 0:24:02.360 he is still looking to block this merger from Paramount 0:24:02.440 --> 0:24:09.080 Skydance buying HBO Max, the resulting TV behemoth with control 0:24:09.160 --> 0:24:13.320 one third of theatrical motion picture distribution and nearly one 0:24:13.520 --> 0:24:17.439 third of basic cable channels, including fifty of the most 0:24:17.480 --> 0:24:23.600 popular cable channels. Cable channels are going away. I mean, 0:24:24.720 --> 0:24:27.359 here's how you know cable is such a thing of 0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:30.000 the past. I like a lot of people in my 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:34.960 generation spent many years watching The Daily Show with John Stewart, 0:24:35.000 --> 0:24:37.480 who is now back on the air one day a 0:24:37.520 --> 0:24:40.679 week and the other days a week. It's entertaining, but 0:24:41.040 --> 0:24:44.320 you know, the John Stewart one is the big money piece. 0:24:45.040 --> 0:24:52.960 And the Daily Show airs at eleven o'clock Eastern, and 0:24:53.240 --> 0:24:56.840 it also airs at eleven o'clock Pacific. What do they 0:24:56.880 --> 0:24:59.600 have on at eight o'clock Pacific? That would be eleven 0:24:59.640 --> 0:25:05.760 o'clock Eastern in you know, on Comedy Central, probably repeats 0:25:05.800 --> 0:25:13.080 of the Office or something else. Sometimes the Daily Show 0:25:13.720 --> 0:25:18.720 puts out John Stewart's monologue, which is like he go 0:25:18.800 --> 0:25:21.680 on for twenty minutes. They no longer are bound by 0:25:21.920 --> 0:25:24.439 like they definitely are like we're doing a podcast, but 0:25:24.480 --> 0:25:28.560 it's on TV. Because his monologue will go twenty twenty 0:25:28.600 --> 0:25:31.000 five minutes, when typically it's like, you go ten minutes, 0:25:31.040 --> 0:25:33.880 commercial break, what have you, and then his interview will 0:25:33.920 --> 0:25:35.879 go on for a half hour. I don't know what 0:25:36.000 --> 0:25:38.800 actually makes it to the air because I had not 0:25:40.000 --> 0:25:43.200 watched a single episode of the Daily Show on television 0:25:43.200 --> 0:25:46.960 in many, many years. I, like many people that watch 0:25:47.000 --> 0:25:51.440 the Daily Show, watch it on YouTube, and it comes 0:25:51.520 --> 0:25:55.040 out on YouTube before it comes out on Paramount Plus, 0:25:55.320 --> 0:25:58.080 and it comes out on YouTube before it even airs 0:25:58.240 --> 0:26:03.880 on cable television, So owning fifty of the most popular 0:26:04.000 --> 0:26:09.480 cable channels not really, in my opinion, that big of 0:26:09.520 --> 0:26:15.240 a deal. Let's continue with Bob Bunte's open letter. It 0:26:15.240 --> 0:26:19.920