U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern District of California, in an order issued Tuesday, 22 September 2026, set a hearing for 11:00 a.m. Pacific on Thursday, 24 September, to address outstanding questions about the factual and legal underpinnings and implementation of the parties’ proposed consent decree, according to contemporaneous Variety and Hollywood Reporter accounts of the order. The court vacated a separate bond hearing that had also been set for 24 September. The California Attorney General’s office told Variety the court has not approved the proposed settlement yet and that a hearing to discuss it is not uncommon.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Monday, 21 September 2026, that a coalition of 12 attorneys general had reached a settlement with Paramount Skydance Corporation resolving the states’ antitrust lawsuit over Paramount’s planned combination with Warner Bros. Discovery, according to the California Department of Justice press release opened for this pack and same-day CNN Business reporting. The mechanism is a proposed consent decree; the California DOJ release states the settlement is pending approval by the court.
Named plaintiff states in the DOJ release: California led Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington. Case caption on the joint motion filed 21 September in N.D. Cal. No. 4:26-cv-07116-AMO: State of California et al. v. Paramount Skydance Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.
Settlement terms as the California DOJ release states them, for a five-year term after closing: Paramount commits to release 30 films a year including 20 wide releases in years one and two, then 32 films a year including 21 wide releases in years three through five, and at least four independent films each year. If Paramount misses the film-output requirement in any year, the release says the company must divest Miramax Studios and pay $30 million per missed film toward named union healthcare and retirement trust funds and to the National Association of Attorneys General for antitrust enforcement.
Money and production as the DOJ release states: at least an additional $1.5 billion U.S. film-production spend over five years above 2025 U.S. spending levels; a $47.5 million Workforce Fund over five years for training and career development for workers displaced by the merger; a $25 million independent-film purchase fund ($5 million per year); and a requirement that, for five years, negotiations for Paramount basic-cable channels be conducted independently from Warner Bros. basic-cable channels. The settlement also requires a News Editorial Independence Board to support CBS News’ and CNN’s continued editorial independence, per the DOJ release and CNN reporting on board composition and appointment rules.
CNN Business reported that Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery expect the merger to close no later than early October if the court enters the decree and dissolves the stipulation not to close; that timing is company expectation, not a court-entered schedule. CNN also reported a separate Writers Guild of America side settlement (writer-layoff limits at CBS News Broadcast; $17.5 million to the WGA health fund) and capital-structure colour including sovereign-wealth financing — secondary to the DOJ consent-decree terms.
What to watch: whether Judge Martínez-Olguín enters the consent decree after the 24 September hearing; whether the no-close stipulation is dissolved; first appointments to the news editorial board; year-one film-output and domestic-spend compliance under the independent monitor the DOJ says will be appointed. Settlement announced is not a final judgment until the court enters the decree.
Floor: N.D. Cal. Judge Martínez-Olguín set 24 Sep 2026 11:00 a.m. PT hearing on proposed consent decree (Variety / THR of 22 Sep order). CA DOJ / Bonta 21 Sep — 12-state settlement with Paramount Skydance pending court approval; 5-yr film floors (30 then 32/yr) + ≥$1.5bn U.S. production add + $47.5m workforce fund + cable-negotiation split + CNN/CBS news independence board (DOJ + CNN). Joint motion 21 Sep, Case 4:26-cv-07116-AMO.