Paramount Skydance weighs CNN sale as antitrust lawsuit against $110bn merger intensifies
Twelve states, led by California, seek to block the Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger, citing reduced consumer choice and excessive market power.
Paramount Skydance is considering the sale of CNN as a potential mechanism to resolve an antitrust lawsuit challenging its proposed $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The revelation came from Makan Delrahim, Paramount’s chief legal officer, who confirmed at Politico’s Agenda California conference that a divestment was “on the table” as the company faces legal action from 12 states led by California.
Delrahim, a former antitrust official during the Trump administration, stated the company had been “transparent” and remained willing to work with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to advance the merger. However, he also appeared to leverage the threat of relocating Paramount’s operations out of California, suggesting the state would not wish to lose Hollywood or major corporate entities to other jurisdictions.
The potential sale of CNN arrives amid heightened scrutiny over editorial independence. Larry Ellison, whose father is Oracle co-founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison, has faced criticism over assurances that he would not interfere with CNN’s journalism. These promises mirror those made prior to Paramount Skydance’s takeover of CBS News, which subsequently saw a reported rightward editorial shift under the leadership of Bari Weiss and the departure of prominent anchors including Anderson Cooper and Scott Pelley.
Despite the focus on CNN, the lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other states centres on broader market concentration. Bonta warned that the merged entity would control 27 percent of theatrically released films in the US market and significant basic cable distribution, reducing professional opportunities and consumer options in the television and film industries.
Critics argue that selling CNN does not address the fundamental antitrust concerns. Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation noted that the lawsuit is an antitrust case unrelated to CNN, meaning divestment would not resolve the legal challenge or broader censorship concerns. The Writers Guild of America also condemned Paramount’s reported threats to leave California, stating such behaviour demonstrated the danger of the company’s outsized power over the creative community.
On Wall Street, the market reacted positively to the news, with Paramount Skydance stock rising 1.1 percent and Warner Bros. Discovery stock increasing 1.4 percent in midday trading.
