Merger deal between Paramount and Warner Bros paused by judge

A coalition of 12 US states led by California sued on 13 July to block Paramount Skydance's proposed $110bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery -- which would unite CBS and CNN under one owner and, combined with Disney, Universal and Sony, give four companies 86% control of major film releases -- arguing it would raise consumer prices and harm competition; California Attorney General Rob Bonta called reports that Paramount CEO David Ellison (son of Trump ally Larry Ellison) was considering moving the company out of California in response 'a threat' and 'a last-ditch effort to blackmail the regulators.' US District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted a temporary restraining order on 21 July freezing the deal, warning that letting it proceed would make it 'extraordinarily difficult to unscramble the egg' if later blocked; critics, including media scholars and the Writers Guild of America, specifically warned the merger could let Ellison remake CNN in the mold of CBS, where he had installed right-wing commentator Bari Weiss, prompting reported departures or threatened exits by CNN talent including Paula Reid and Anderson Cooper.

Rather than fight the injunction, Paramount agreed on 25 July to voluntarily pause the merger until an antitrust trial concludes or 1 June 2027, whichever comes first -- a deal Paramount called a 'significant win' providing a 'direct path to trial,' while opponents like New York Attorney General Letitia James called the pause 'a critical victory.' The delay could cost Paramount as much as $1.7bn in contractual 'ticking fees' owed to Warner Bros shareholders (roughly $7m/day) if the merger remains stalled past September 2026, even though European regulators had approved the deal days earlier on condition Paramount end a film-distribution partnership with Universal in Europe. On 5 August, Ellison broke his public silence in a New York Times op-ed defending the merger, arguing opposition relied on an outdated vision of Hollywood, that CBS and CNN would remain nonpartisan, and that a combined company would still control under 20% of US TV watch time against streaming giants -- while pledging $30bn a year in content investment across 30 films and 170 TV series annually.