According to the report, antitrust regulators spent eight months reviewing the transaction and concluded that the merger is unlikely to harm consumers, despite the enormous size of the companies involved.
If completed, the deal would bring major entertainment and news brands under one corporate roof, including Paramount+, HBO Max, CBS News and CNN — creating one of the most powerful media companies in Hollywood and the streaming industry.
The deal is also politically explosive. Paramount Skydance is led by David Ellison, son of billionaire Larry Ellison, a close ally of former President Donald Trump. The approval comes as Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly criticized CNN, raising concerns among critics about whether the merger could affect the network’s editorial independence.
Paramount has insisted that CNN will remain editorially independent, saying the network has strong journalists and that the company wants to support them going forward.
But the deal is not fully finished yet. Regulators in Britain and Europe are still reviewing it, and a group of state attorneys general is reportedly considering legal action to stop the merger on antitrust grounds.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren strongly criticized the approval, calling it “terrible news” for Americans who do not want billionaires aligned with Trump controlling what people watch and how much they pay.
This merger could define the next era of entertainment: fewer media giants, bigger streaming battles, and major questions about who controls the news Americans see every day.
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