Overview
- Paramount says regulators in about 68 jurisdictions have cleared the merger and that Mexico approved the deal on Friday, leaving a multistate lawsuit as the only remaining legal barrier.
- A coalition led by California AG Rob Bonta sued to block the transaction, arguing the combined company would control roughly a third of wide-release film distribution and basic cable channels; a merits trial is set to begin March 2, 2027.
- Chief legal officer Makan Delrahim has publicly said selling CNN is "on the table" as a concession, and the company has offered unspecified commitments to the state plaintiffs while urging settlement talks.
- Analysts and the state AGs note a CNN divestiture would not address the core antitrust claims about movie distribution and cable concentration, so a sale is unlikely to by itself end the lawsuit.
- Contract terms create rising commercial pressure to resolve the dispute because Paramount would start paying an estimated $7 million per day if the deal does not close after the end-of-September deadline, and the fight has split Hollywood unions and raised relocation and labor risks for California workers.