Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Will Threaten $2.78 Billion in Economic Value, Says L.A. County

As the public perception battle over Paramount ‘s attempt to seal its deal for Warner Bros. Discovery hits a fever pitch, the historic home of Hollywood — Los Angeles County — is throwing fuel on the fire.

The County’s department that has been studying the potential cost of the $111 billion deal to local workers and businesses is out with its latest report of the financial impact if Paramount mogul David Ellison’s merger closes.

Thousands of jobs are directly at risk as a result of the transaction across corporate, creative and production workforces, according to the Aug. 18 study from the L.A. Department of Economic Opportunity and CVL Economics, which was presented to the County‘s board of supervisors. While corporate workers could be impacted by layoffs aimed at cutting down on debt load and redundancies, the report notes, professionals like writers, producers and crew members could also become casualties of a smaller slate of projects at a combined company.

The report counted employment through the metric of “job-years,“ or a single job being performed over one year, which shows the impact of employment changes over time. For example, a job that one person holds for five years would equal five job-years. By the count, 4,500 job-years are directly at risk.

Then there are the knock-on employment impacts to workers at small businesses that rely on production like prop houses, transportation companies and caterers. Some 2,661 job-years are indirectly estimated to be at stake as a result of the transaction. As for so-called “induced jobs“ — in other words, those that are supported by major studios like Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance paying unrelated businesses such as restaurants, florists and other kinds of retailers — the report pegged the potential cost at 3,204 job-years.

In total, the L.A. Department of Economic Opportunity and CVL Economics projected that $1.26 billion in lost wages is at stake, in addition to $2.78 billion in lost economic value and $4.06 billion in lost business output. The merger could entail a $547 million dip in overall tax revenue, including $78.6 million in local taxes.

In a statement, a Paramount Skydance spokesperson said the study only underscored the company’s justifications for its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, showing the industry is in decline. “Our plan to invest $30 billion annually in production and release at least 30 films a year is how we regain that ground: more production that supports more jobs over time, and ultimately, a stronger, more durable entertainment industry for generations to come.”

If the merger goes through, this economic impact would take place against the backdrop of an already struggling entertainment industry in L.A. County, battered by the pandemic, strikes and a contraction in released projects. The report notes that the average number of motion picture jobs in the county reached a nadir in 2025 at 93,263, down nearly 36 percent from 2022. California has lost 52,016 entertainment jobs since 2022, with more than 99 percent of that total coming from L.A. County.

“The proposed merger of Warner Bros.