Entertainment
Paramount And Warner Bros Merger Hits A Roadblock That Could Cost Billions
By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated
In a move that could be seen coming miles away from the moment the merger was announced, 11 states, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington, have filed a claim in California’s court system to stop the $111 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. If it goes through, the merger will result in the largest entertainment company in history, and contract the entertainment market to the smallest it’s ever been. On one side, the states are arguing against a monopoly, on the other, Paramount and Warner Bros. counsel argues it creates more opportunity for competition. It was expected, but it’s a disaster for the sale of Warner Bros. which has to be completed by September 30th, or it’s going to cost Paramount millions.
The September 30th Deadline
Specifically, if the deal isn’t closed by September 30th, Paramount will owe Warner Bros. shareholders $6.9 million per day. Not individually, but as a collective, which will still add up to a total of over $690 million per quarter in fines and fees. The latest move by the collected States put that deadline in jeopardy. That’s despite the Department of Justice signing off on the merger months ago, and other countries as well, including Italy, France, South Africa, Ukraine, among others have given it the green light.
Another potential roadblock is approval from the United Kingdom, which is expected to come within the next few weeks, but will then lead to a through audit by investigators. Paramount’s buyout is expected to be approved by regulators overseas, but it will take time. That’s also not including the lawsuit launched by consumers in April that has asked the Federal Court to ensure it’s not creating an illegal monopoly.
For all of the justified scorn heaped onto Warner Bros President David Zaslav, he is a ruthless businessman. His inclusion of the deadline fees and a payout if the deal falls apart means that to Warner Bros, the whole situation is a win/win. If the deal goes through, Hollywood will be left with only four major studios, significantly reducing the marketplace for major movies and shows to be made, which is why there’s already fewer in the pipeline.
Nothing About The Sale Is Good For Viewers
Paramount has put a pause on Star Trek until everything is sorted, and the only major franchise series on the Warner Bros side is the upcoming Harry Potter remake series. James Gunn is plugging along with the DC Universe revival, and the incoming bosses at Paramount have said he’ll be able to keep doing his thing, but that was before Supergirl failed to reach the same level as Morbius. For fans of both Paramount and Warner Bros properties, it’s a scary time right now with nothing certain about the future.
The new lawsuit filed by the collected States will take some time to work through the court system and land on the docket. No judge has been assigned, and even if a ruling goes against Paramount and Warner Bros, there’s always appeals, which would be bolstered by the Federal approval already on record. All that said, consolidation is horrible for the consumer, and the best thing for the public would have been for Warner Bros to never go on sale in the first place. The other potential buyer, Netflix, has its own issues it brings to the table.
This latest twist is going to heat up in the next 60 days, so it will be interesting to see what the corporations are going to do as their next move, and how fast the court will move. The clock’s ticking and there’s millions, if not billions, worth of fines and fees on the line.
Entertainment
Light Flip is a minimalistic, cheap flip phone that wont distract you
Remember Light, the New York-based company that builds super-simple, distraction-free, cheap smartphones?
It’s back with a new device; its first-ever flip phone called the Light Flip.
Once again, this is a cheap phone designed to free you from endless scrolling and social media addiction, while still offering the basic tools you need for everyday life. To do this, the company has built an Android-based, minimalistic operating system called LightOS that’s mostly textual and displays everything in just two colors. You do get access to music, messages, alarms, and other basic apps, but you don’t get to scroll the flashy new TIkTok video; that’s what your other phone is for.
The Light Flip is available in six colors: Black, Navy, Red, Pink, Yellow, and Light Gray.
Credit: Light Phone
The Light Flip doesn’t stray far from the formula, but approaches it with the body of a flip phone. In many ways, it’s far more simple than the company’s previous phone, the Light Phone III, which has an OLED touchscreen. The Light Flip is basically your flip phone of old, with a plastic body, a numeric, T9 keypad, some function buttons, and a 2.8-inch, non-touch display.
Mashable Light Speed
Numeric keypad? That’s right, but at least it supports T9 predictive input.
Credit: Light Phone
Inside, it’s powered by a MediaTek MT8873 chip, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and has a 50-megapixel camera and a (replaceable) 1,800mAh battery. Other amenities include a headphone jack (nice!), a USB-C port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 5G connectivity.
The camera on the back has a 50-megapixel sensor but takes 12-megapixel images.
Credit: Light Phone
The numeric keypad might be a tough sell to folks that are used to touchscreens or at least QWERTY keyboards. Fortunately, the Light Flip does support voice-to-text and audio messaging, too.
The phone is available in six colors: Black, Navy, Red, Pink, Yellow, and Light Gray.
The Light Flip retails for $299 or $39 per month with the Light Service plan. It starts shipping in April 2027.
Entertainment
The Ecovacs Goat 01000 RTK robot lawn mower is on sale for under $700 at Amazon
SAVE $301: The Ecovacs Goat 01000 RTK robot lawn mower is on sale for $698.99 at Amazon, down from the standard price of $999.99. That’s a 30% discount.
$698.99
at Amazon
$999.99
Save $301
Not many people consider the chore of mowing the lawn to be enjoyable. It’s a task we often hand off to the neighborhood kids or a professional landscaping crew. But if you’d rather take matters into your own hands, we have a great solution these days. Plus, an affordable model is on sale.
As of July 21, the Ecovacs Goat 01000 RTK robot lawn mower is on sale for $698.99 at Amazon, marked down from the list price of $999.99. That winds up being a savings of $301 from a 30% discount.
By now you’ve probably seen a robot lawn mower rolling around someone’s yard, but it’s still an abnormal sight. Just like the rollout of robot vacuums, we’ll slowly start to see more and more robots take over mowing the lawn. As someone with allergies, I’m totally cool with never touching a lawn mower ever again.
The Ecovacs Goat 01000 is designed to maintain lawns that span up to 0.25 acres in size. You don’t need to worry about a wire perimeter because it maps your yard and stays on course thanks to LiDAR RTK navigation that even works in the shade or under trees. It can even avoid obstacles when mowing in dark conditions.
Mashable Deals
The small mower body that measures 2.3 feet means it can mow in tight areas like between raised vegetable beds or small walkways. Plus, it has an IPX6 waterproof design. You get to decide on your ideal cutting length between 1.2 and 3.2 inches.
Today’s Amazon deal on the Ecovacs Goat 01000 applies to the robot mower with a care kit which includes 36 blades and an RTK AC adapter. Since the mower and the care kit are on sale for under $700, today is a great day to wave goodbye to the heavy and loud push mower and make the upgrade. Spend the rest of summer perfecting homemade slushies instead of doing yardwork.
Entertainment
Amazon has my favorite Bissell carpet cleaner marked down by 25% right now
SAVE 25%: As of July 21, you can get the Bissell Little Green Max Pet SmartMix carpet cleaner (38572) for $119.99, down from $159.99, at Amazon.
$119.99
at Amazon
$159.99
Save $40.00
I used to have a Bissell Little Green machine, and it worked right up until I poured liquid into the wrong compartment. But before my little mishap, this little thing was a lifesaver (I seldom use that word, but in this case, it’s true). With two beagles running around my apartment, having a carpet cleaner is a necessity.
And right now, you can get your own Bissell Little Green Max Pet SmartMix carpet cleaner for $119.99, down from $159.99. That’s a 25% discount or $40 in savings.
Mashable Trend Report
It comes with a specialized Pet Hair Removal Tool designed to grab embedded fur and debris from your upholstery, and once you’re done scrubbing, the Self-Cleaning Tough Stain Tool rinses out the leftover dirt and residue from the hose with the touch of a button (my machine didn’t have that feature).
Another major upgrade on this specific model is the SmartMix Technology, which automatically mixes the water and cleaning formula together for you so you don’t have to measure anything. Just be sure you pour it into the correct tank!
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