Overview
- Thirty‑four California Democrats sent a letter Thursday urging Attorney General Rob Bonta to closely review the $110–$111 billion Paramount Skydance bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, citing likely job losses and fewer choices for viewers.
- Paramount disclosed that multiple state attorneys general have issued subpoenas as they examine the deal’s competitive effects, even as the company says the federal waiting period expired with no automatic roadblock.
- Mark Ruffalo, in a New York Times op‑ed with Matt Stoller, said many artists declined to publicly oppose the merger out of fear of retaliation, pointing to reports of Paramount pulling ads from The Ankler and CNN passing on a planned segment.
- Variety reported that FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez called for a vigorous review of the deal’s foreign financing after Paramount said the combined company would be 49.5% foreign‑owned, with about 38.5% held by Middle Eastern sovereign funds, which could affect CBS broadcast licenses.
- Paramount says it is targeting a close later in 2026, yet parallel reviews in California, at the DOJ and FCC, and in the U.K. and Europe, plus lawsuits and shareholder challenges, could delay the timeline or impose conditions that shape jobs and production output.