* Workers, unions and politicians voice concerns over job

losses and industry consolidation

* California and New York prepare lawsuit to block deal,

citing antitrust and labor concerns

* Entertainment job losses have hit California especially

hard

* Regulators in US and Europe reviewing merger, with EU

decision expected by July 7

By Dawn Chmielewski and Jody Godoy

LOS ANGELES, June 6 (Reuters) - As he spoke at a gathering

on Saturday to protest Paramount Skydance's ( PSKY ) proposed

acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery ( WBD ), stand-up comedian

Adam Conover framed the ongoing media consolidation as an

existential threat to an industry that made the United States a

cultural power.

"It's about to die, and that's why I feel so passionately

about this issue," he said.

Conover was a featured speaker on Saturday at an event

billed as the first stop in a three-city "Main Street vs. The

Merger" tour bringing together entertainment workers, small

business owners and politicians who oppose Paramount Skydance's ( PSKY )

plan to absorb Warner Bros. Discovery ( WBD ) in a $110 billion

transaction.

About 100 people gathered at Lumiere Music Hall in Los

Angeles for the event, which was organized by advocacy groups,

the Writers Guild of America and industry workers who wanted to

voice their concerns about the merger.

U.S. antitrust regulators appear poised to approve the

combination, amid assurances from Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) that the

deal would not hurt other studios or creative talent. CEO David

Ellison has pledged that the combined Paramount and Warner

studios would stay productive by releasing at least 30 films a

year.

But a group of ‌U.S. states including California and New York

are preparing a lawsuit to block the deal, sources familiar with

​the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Conover knows firsthand the toll of cost-cutting from media

mergers. After AT&T's ( T ) 2018 acquisition of Time Warner, his TruTV

show "Adam Ruins Everything" was canceled, putting employees,

"countless" contractors and more than 100 others out of work.

The job losses reflect an entertainment industry where

employment has declined since its peak in late 2022.

California has been especially hard hit, shedding 17,234

positions from 2019 through 2023, according to the Milken

Institute. It concluded that a combination of factors -

including shrinking television ad revenue and stagnating

streaming growth - convinced studios to look for less-expensive

places to make movies and series.

The occupancy rate in Hollywood's sound stages has fallen to 62%

in the first half of 2025, down from nearly full occupancy in

2016, according to Film LA, the non-profit organization that

coordinates filming in greater Los Angeles. The International

Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents 170,000

behind-the-scenes professionals, has said its members worked

about 36% fewer hours than in 2022.

Matt Radecki, a co-founder of the Different by Design

post-production facility in Los Angeles, fears a Paramount

Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger will result in fewer

buyers for documentary films such as the Oscar-winning

"Navalny," which was produced by two Warner units, HBO Max and

CNN Films.

"This is the biggest thing that we've faced," Radecki told

attendees on Saturday. "The places we work with are closed ...

They're gone, and they're never coming back, and we don't want

to see that happen to HBO or CNN or CNN Films."

Former Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya expressed

optimism that California Attorney General Rob Bonta could block

the merger. Bonta could argue that the Paramount Skydance-Warner

deal lessens competition among film studios, thereby indirectly

affecting workers.

But it is also possible in the U.S. to block a merger by arguing

it would decrease competition for specific types of labor.

Antitrust authorities did so once before, in the case of

publisher Penguin Random House's bid to buy rival Simon &

Schuster in 2022.

California could point to that precedent in any

labor-focused challenge, said Ioana Marinescu, a University of

Pennsylvania economist who wrote the Biden-era Justice

Department's guidelines on labor market issues.

"For some workers it could be that jobs at these two

companies are really special, and this is really what they

want," she said. "And there isn't necessarily a very close

substitute. And those are the people for whom it's going to make

an adverse impact."