The Justice Department has given the greenlight to Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, a merger with major implications for the media industry and consumers.
Among them: television news outlets CBS News and CNN could soon be housed under the same roof — with Bari Weiss at the head of the table for both.
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The Justice Department’s antitrust division announced the news late Friday, noting in a statement it determined after an eight-month investigation that the megamerger “is not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers.”
The deal is set to create one of the largest companies in the news and entertainment business. Paramount CEO David Ellison, an ally of President Donald Trump, is poised to oversee the film studios Paramount and Warner Bros. and the streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max — along with the two major news operations.
Despite the consolidation, federal antitrust investigators concluded the deal could actually benefit Hollywood and beyond. Politico first reported the Justice Department’s decision.
“The extensive investigatory record reviewed by the Division suggests that the impact of the transaction will be to increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers,” the department said in a media release.
In a statement to Politico, a Paramount spokesperson said the decision would allow the company to “better compete against dominant technology platforms,” and that it hopes to finalize the deal as quickly as possible. The spokesperson acknowledged the company is operating in “an industry increasingly defined by intense competition for audiences, talent, technology and investment.”
Paramount didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Straight Arrow.
Critics warn the merger could lead to media industry layoffs and, at CNN, a rightward reboot. Since Ellison’s media production and financing company Skydance acquired Paramount last year, the company has faced criticism for implementing a remake at CBS News. Ellison hired Weiss as the network’s top editor. Most recently, Weiss oversaw a shakeup at the newsmagazine “60 Minutes,” including high-profile firings and the appointment of an executive producer without previous broadcast news experience.
Trump has advocated for the deal. He has close ties to Ellison and his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison.
Although Paramount cleared a major hurdle Friday, the deal isn’t set in stone as California, New York and other states prepare a lawsuit set to be filed in the coming weeks.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said it’s now up to state attorneys general to block the merger from coming to fruition.
“This is terrible news for every American who doesn’t want Trump-aligned billionaires to control what they watch and how much they pay,” Warren posted on X. “The Paramount-Warner Bros. deal has reeked of corruption and influence-peddling.”
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