Paramount CEO David Ellison has said the company is "absolutely open" to settling the antitrust lawsuit challenging its proposed $110 billion merger with Warner Bros Discovery, though he expressed confidence it would prevail if the case went to trial. The comments came during Paramount's second-quarter earnings call, shortly after a federal judge set a March trial date for the suit brought by 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America, which has put the merger on hold. The case matters because it directly threatens the completion of one of the media industry's largest pending deals.

Executives also addressed the financial implications of a delayed closing. Paramount has committed to paying WBD shareholders a "ticking fee" of roughly $650 million per quarter if the deal is not closed by 30 September, alongside a separate "bridge commitment fee" of about $190 million, though CFO Dennis Cinelli stressed the ticking fee only becomes payable if the deal closes. A $7 billion breakup fee would apply if the merger ultimately collapsed, but Cinelli said the company's liquidity position remained solid despite the legal uncertainty, and Paramount limited analyst questions on the topic to focus the rest of the call on streaming and production performance.