Paramount cleared its biggest regulatory obstacle on Friday in its push to reshape Hollywood. The Justice Department's Antitrust Division has decided not to challenge Paramount Skydance's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, allowing the massive merger to advance with no required asset sales or behavioral conditions, Politico reports. The deal would marry Warner's film and TV empire—CNN and HBO Max included—with Paramount's studio and Paramount+ to form a streaming player with roughly 200 million subscribers. The merger still faces legal challenges from state attorneys general, the FCC, the European Union, and consumers, per the Hollywood Reporter.
Paramount issued a statement expressing its gratitude to the DOJ and other agencies that reviewed and approved the acquisition. The company lobbied for the deal for months, framing the merger as a way to better compete with Netflix and tech giants, projecting more than $6 billion in "synergies" within three years—assurances that haven't quelled Hollywood workers' worries about job cuts. The DOJ said its investigation found the deal is unlikely to harm consumers, per the Washington Post. A spokesperson said in a statement that the regulators agree with Paramount that the effect "will be to increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers." Variety reports Democratic Sen. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a statement: "This fight isn't over. State AGs must block this merger."
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