A federal judge has scheduled a Thursday hearing to examine the proposed settlement between state attorneys general and Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin set the proceeding for 11 a.m. PT via Zoom. In an order issued Tuesday, she said the hearing would address unresolved issues surrounding both the basis of the proposed consent decree and how its terms would be put into effect.
The parties have asked the court to approve the consent decree, which is intended to resolve the lawsuit filed by the state attorneys general in July. The agreement contains a series of conditions tied to the Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery deal.
Movie releases and news oversight
Among the proposed terms is a commitment from Paramount to release at least 30 movies each year.
The consent decree also calls for the creation of an independent board tasked with overseeing whether CNN and CBS News adhere to journalistic standards. The provision would establish an additional layer of oversight for the two news organizations under the settlement framework.
Thursday’s hearing will give Martinez-Olguin an opportunity to question the parties about the factual and legal foundations for those conditions, as well as the practical details of implementing them.
The judge has also canceled a previously scheduled hearing over whether the state attorneys general should be required to post a bond while the litigation continued.
WGA lawsuit remains before the judge
A separate legal challenge brought by the Writers Guild of America is also moving toward a possible conclusion.
The WGA had sued to block the merger, but the guild said it reached its own settlement with Paramount to end that litigation. Martinez-Olguin wrote in a separate order that she would decide “in due course” whether to dismiss the WGA’s lawsuit.
That means the guild’s case has not yet been formally dismissed, even though the WGA and Paramount say they have reached an agreement.
What Happens Next?
The immediate focus will be Thursday’s Zoom hearing, where the court will consider the remaining questions surrounding the state attorneys general’s proposed consent decree. The motion seeking approval is still pending before Martinez-Olguin.
The judge must also separately determine whether to dismiss the WGA’s challenge following its settlement with Paramount. No specific timetable for that decision was provided beyond her statement that it would come in “due course.”