On June 5, 2026, an article in the Los Angeles Times entitled "California and other states may sue to block Paramount-Warner Bros. deal" said that California was "leading an effort" to put together a potential lawsuit to stop Paramount Skydance Corporation's planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing it would thwart competition, lower wages, and lead to widespread job losses.
On June 12, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division said it had closed its review of the acquisition stating:
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.
This deal is pro-competitive, resulting in a stronger company better positioned to compete against dominant technology platforms in an industry increasingly defined by intense competition for audiences, talent, technology, and investment. We remain focused on completing the transaction as soon as possible and delivering its benefits to consumers, creators, and the entertainment industry as a whole.
On July 13, 2026, attorneys general from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington filed a joint Lawsuit Seeking to Block Paramount's Pending Takeover of Warner Brothers Discovery.
Read the 38-page lawsuit here.
On February 27, 2026, Paramount announced the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery in a press release entitled "PARAMOUNT TO ACQUIRE WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY TO FORM NEXT-GENERATION GLOBAL MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY".
On October 6, 2025, Paramount announced the acquisition of The Free Press in a press release entitled "PARAMOUNT ANNOUNCES DEAL TO ACQUIRE THE FREE PRESS". The press release also stated that Bari Weiss, The Free Press co-founder and CEO, will join CBS News as editor-in-chief.
On July 24, 2025, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved Skydance's Acquisition of Paramount CBS.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr released a statement stating the reasons for the approval:
- Commitment to Unbiased Journalism
- Ensures that Discriminatory DEI Policies End
- Injection of New Capital and Enhanced Local News
The statement also states (bold added for emphasis):
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.
Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change. That is why I welcome Skydance's commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadast network. In particular, Skydance has made written commitments to ensure that the new company's programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum. Skydance will also adopt measures that can root out the bias that has undermined trust in the national news media. These commitments, if implemented, would enable CBS to operate in the public interest and focus on fair, unbiased, and fact-based coverage. Doing so would begin the process of earning back Americans' trust. Today's decision also marks another step forward in the FCC's efforts to eliminate invidious forms of DEI discrimination. And Skydance's commitment to enhancing local news and reporting—coverage valued by the public—will also inure to the benefit of the American people.
Jul 15, 2026 Update
FCC Chair Carr says California could drop lawsuit against Paramount, Warner Bros. merger if CNN is spun off
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5969820-fcc-chair-cnn-spinoff-rumor/
Commentary:
The Skydance/Paramount CBS acquisition is another major part of the ongoing effort by conservatives to exert their political influence on the media. Conservatives aren't satisfied with having the most bias mainstream media network to ever exist in Fox News. No, they want more, because they always more ways to gaslight their viewers for political gain.
All of these efforts are the result of conservative Christian values, and conservative beliefs and fear that America is becoming a liberal-dominated, corrupt, anti-Christian nation. Of course that's not the case, but since Trump entered politics, conservatives often have little interest in or regard for objective reality.
Brendan Carr is a Trump sycophant. His Skydance/Paramount CBS approval statement wreaks with conservative bias. Conservatives have been railing about mainstream media coverage for a long time, and their disapproval of it kicked into high gear in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
Carr claims that Skydcance will "root out the bias" in mainstream media. Translated, that means Skydance will never say an unkind word about Trump, his administration, or anything related to conservative efforts to advance their political agenda. If you want to "root out the bias" in mainstream media, I suggest you start with highly-biased Fox News.
Carr claims the acquisition will enable CBS to focus on "fact-based coverage." It seems to me that CBS was doing just fine on its own regarding facts. If ensuring "fact-based coverage" is your goal, again, I suggest you start with Fox News.
Carr says that the FCC wants to "eliminate invidious forms of DEI discrimination." The Trump administration has done everything in its power to eliminate DEI. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines the word "invidious" as "of an unpleasant or objectionable nature." The question of course is, unpleasant and objectionable to who?
Being a Trump sycophant, like Trump, Carr wants to permanently erase and get rid of anything that he and conservatives find unpleasant and objectionable. The FCC has no business censoring media just because the person who heads up the Commission finds something "unpleasant and objectionable" and because it doesn't align with a particular political point of view.
If you don't like or agree with something shown on any source of media, then don't watch or listen to it. Instead, Carr wants to engage in censorship. Carr is pathetic beyond words.
We live in a world where conservatives and liberals have conflicting views on a wide range of topics. For the FCC to "tailor" what viewers see to a conservative point of view, by definition, is doing the exact thing Carr railed about in his approval statement.
I hope the twelve attorneys general are successful with their lawsuit and I applaud them for standing up and fighting back against a Trump administration that is "hell-bent" on implementing its radical political agenda.