A group of Paramount+ subscribers failed on Thursday to secure a preliminary injunction that would have blocked Paramount's $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, with a federal judge ruling they had submitted no evidence to support the claim. The case matters because it is one of several legal challenges now threatening to delay or derail the merger, with a more significant test looming on Friday when a coalition of state attorneys general seeks a temporary restraining order on separate antitrust grounds.

Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin dismissed the subscribers' bid, calling it "extraordinary preliminary relief" unsupported by evidence and questioning the plaintiffs' standing to bring antitrust claims. Paramount's lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, noted that the subscribers' attorney, Joseph Alioto, has filed five similar merger-blocking suits recently and lost every one, including cases against the Microsoft-Activision and Kroger-Albertsons deals. A separate, more serious challenge comes from 12 state attorneys general, who filed suit on Monday arguing the merger would harm competition in theatrical and basic cable markets; the Writers Guild of America has also filed its own federal antitrust suit against the deal.