California AG tells CNBC that settling Paramount-WBD lawsuit would require 'robust structural remedies'

California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CNBC's David Faber on Thursday that the group of states suing to block Paramount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery would require "robust structural remedies" to reach a settlement in the antitrust case.

"[Paramount] wanted to talk about everything except for what this case is about. They want to talk about the streaming market, which we don't allege in our complaint. They want to talk about CNN, which is not a focus of our complaint. They want to talk about the foreign regulators. We want to talk about the three markets that we set forth in our complaint, where we think there's antitrust violation," Bonta said.

Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in July seeking to block the merger. The group of suing states also includes Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington. 

Paramount, which initially sought to close the deal by Sept. 30, agreed to delay the proposed acquisition of WBD to as late as June 2027. A trial will be heard on the matter in March.

"I will say that coming to the table has always been on the table. And if [CEO David] Ellison and Paramount want to come to the table in good faith and talk, we want to talk too. We're happy to have that conversation," Bonta said. "We do prefer to resolve cases in the boardroom instead of the courtroom, but for now we're bringing our case, and you know I hope they can focus on the actual allegations we make in our complaint."

In the lawsuit, the group focuses on the size of the combined company and how it would control nearly one-third of films and nearly a third of basic cable TV programming. 

If the two companies were to combine it would bring together the famed movie studios Warner Bros. and Paramount, as well as a massive portfolio of TV networks including Paramount's broadcast network CBS and pay TV channels such as its MTV and BET with WBD's CNN, Discovery and others. It would also bring together streaming platforms Paramount+ and HBO Max.