U.S. State Attorneys General
Challenge Massive Merger:

Paramount Skydance says
Warner Bros Discovery Deal
Will Help Both Companies

| published July 14, 2026 |

By R. Alan Clanton
Thursday Review editor

A group of U.S. State Attorneys plan to file suit in the federal court to block the proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery, a merger—if completed—which would create the largest media, entertainment, television and content provider in Hollywood.

The states’ attorneys plan to argue that the $110 billion merger will directly impact customers by eliminating competition and thereby driving up prices for streaming services, movie tickets, television content, cable pricing, and some forms of online content.

Initially filed by the California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, the suit is now joined by attorneys in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington. The lawsuit does not come as a surprise to many business observers since several states’ attorneys general had already expressed concern about the proposed merger. Broadly speaking, the lawsuit says that the merger will violate Section 7 of the Clayton Antitrust Act, a law created more than 100 years ago to prevent monopolies.

The merger has already cleared most regulatory and approval hurdles in the United States, but the deal can still be blocked and halted in the courts. Furthermore, since both companies provide similar products and services in other countries, some regulatory issues remain abroad, including in the U.K. where top officials have requested time to research and investigate the merger before clearing it to move forward.

The proposed merger would create an unprecedented goliath, and there are various concerns expressed by some lawmakers and some consumer groups. Among those: that the autonomy of two of the most-viewed and popular news channels—CBS News and CNN—may be impacted directly or indirectly by the merger, since both networks would be under the roof of a single owner. Though neither parent company has suggested that either CNN or CBS would be in danger, there are concerns among some reporters at both networks that the newly merged corporation might eliminate one of the two. CBS News has already faced changed since the arrival of Bari Weiss as head of the news division.

Some liberals express the greatest concern for CNN, sometimes perceived as more progressive (and often portrayed as more sharply left-leaning by conservative media outlets), which might be at more risk than CBS News. The talking points among right-leaning media, such as Newsmax, is that the opposition by the attorneys general—almost all of whom are Democratic—flows from fears of a tamped-down, restructured, or reined-in CNN.

Ironically, one of the most insistent talking points among left-leaning media outlets is that Paramount Skydance might eliminate CNN completely, or greatly limit CNN's traditional temperament. Paramount Skydance is owned by David Ellison—son of billionaire Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison—an ally of President Donald Trump. Though there is no overt indication that politics will be at play in any decisions by David Ellison once the merger clears all hurdles, almost everyone expects changes at CNN.

Bonta was especially clear on how he felt the merger will impact the news.

“This merger will mean fewer journalists informing the electorate,” Bonta said. “It will mean fewer opportunities for Americans to hear the full breadth of information and opinions on a subject, and then, come to their own conclusions.”

The Trump administration and the U.S. Justice Department gave broad approval for the merger in June.

In a rapid response to the lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General, Paramount Skydance released its own statement early Monday. “The lawsuit filed by the state attorneys general, in the most general light, reflects a fundamentally flawed application of the antitrust laws and is wrong on both the facts and the law.”

“We will vigorously defend the transaction and demonstrate that this challenge is inconsistent with sound competition policy and the competitive realities of the media marketplace.” The Paramount Skydance statement also referred to the thousands of jobs already lost—many of them in California—because of the significant changes that have taken place in how most Americans choose, receive, and view their entertainment and news choices.

The lawsuit comes two weeks after cable and content giant Comcast—in an unusual move—announced is decision to spin off its huge NBC Universal and Sky entertainment divisions into a separate entity as early as next year. That major breakup may indicate that Comcast prefers to focus on its original core mission of delivering services through cable, internet, telephony and wireless. Comcast had previously spent two decades acquiring entertainment and content properties. The Comcast break-up—which will be tax-neutral for stockholders and investors—will require very little regulatory approval, but some analysts suggest that it will put some or all of the subsidiaries at risk for takeover by the big players.

Among the stated advantages of the Paramount Skydance merger with Warner Bros. Discovery: Paramount’s substantial streaming service may be able to vastly expand its offerings to customers in North America, especially if it is able to make available the large library of Warner Brothers film and television and all Discovery Channel programs under one service.

However, some consumer advocates fear this will simply mean higher prices for homes which rely upon streaming for movies and TV options, and they point to the inclusion of the combined HBO Max library as an indication that upon merging, the new giant will control a vast share of all Hollywood film and TV under one gated service.

The litigation by the attorneys general has the backing of several actors’ unions, and the Writers Guild of America. The WGA has opposed the merger since it was first announced.

The bid by Paramount Skydance to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery came after it jumped into the fray earlier this year, outbidding Netflix for control of Warner Bros. Discovery. After much wrangling over offers and some high profile discussions about the fate of CNN, Netflix chose to not raise its bid further, leaving Paramount Skydance as Warner Bros. Discovery only suitor.

On July 13, Paramount Skydance released an official statement in response to the legal action taken by the attorneys general.

“The complaint filed by the state attorneys general in federal district court in the Northern District of California,” the press release said, “distorts settled antitrust law and is based on a misrepresentation of competition in the entertainment industry today.”

The statement also put a not-too-fine point on Paramount’s goal of outbidding Netflix for the Warner Bros. Discovery properties, suggesting that it was Netflix which had radically altered the business landscape for both audiences and investors.

“The combination of Paramount and WBD will create a stronger, well-capitlizaed, creative-first media company that is better positioned to compete with companies like Netflix that have come to dominate the industry for audiences, premium content, and creative talent.”

Among the current creative and content properties of Warner Bros. Discovery in addition to HBO Max and CNN: TBS, New Line Cinema, Animal Planet, Discovery+, TruTV, TNT and TNT Sports, Food Network, HGTV, Cartoon Network, and Turner Classic Movies.

Paramount Skydance owns CBS Television and CBS News, Comedy Central, MTV, BET, Showtime, Smithsonian Channel, Skydance Animation Studios, Nickelodeon, CMT, as well as both Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and Channel 10 in Australia. Paramount also owns the streaming service PlutoTV and the network PopTV.


Related Thursday Review articles:

Comcast to Spin-Off NBC Universal & Sky Into Separate Entitie; By R. Alan Clanton, Thursday Review staff writers; June 29, 2026.

Fox to Pay $22 Billion in Roku Purchase; By Thursday Review staff; June 15, 2026.