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Paramount Floats CNN Sale as California Antitrust Fight Threatens Warner Bros Deal

By  |  August 16, 2026
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Paramount Skydance is considering whether selling CNN could help end a multistate antitrust challenge to its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, underscoring the concessions the media company may be willing to contemplate to get the transaction across the finish line.

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    Makan Delrahim, Paramount’s chief legal officer, said a potential CNN divestiture remains among the options available to address California’s lawsuit against the combination, according to Reuters. Delrahim discussed the issue at Politico’s California Agenda conference, Reuters reported.

    The possibility puts one of Warner Bros. Discovery’s most prominent news assets at the center of the regulatory battle over a transaction that would reshape the entertainment industry. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and attorneys general from 11 other states are seeking to stop the merger on antitrust grounds, according to Reuters. The states contend that combining the companies would produce a media giant with enough market power to increase prices and weaken competition across film and television.

    Paramount’s willingness to consider remedies comes as the California-led case represents the transaction’s last major regulatory hurdle. The deal has already received approvals from US federal regulators, China and other jurisdictions, Reuters reported. Britain recently cleared the acquisition after securing five-year commitments involving programming and the editorial independence of Channel 5 news from CNN International and CBS News.

    The dispute highlights a familiar question in merger enforcement: whether regulators should accept asset sales and behavioral commitments to address competition concerns or seek to prevent a transaction altogether.

    Related: Paramount-Warner Deal Turns Into Test of State Antitrust Power

    The states have been skeptical of Paramount’s proposed safeguards. They have argued that a commitment to release 30 movies annually would not be enforceable and would fail to eliminate the merged company’s ability to increase prices or reduce quality, according to Reuters.

    The regulatory confrontation is also becoming entangled with Paramount’s future in California. Delrahim publicly acknowledged that the company could consider leaving the state, Reuters reported, marking the first such acknowledgment from a Paramount executive after earlier reports citing unidentified sources raised the prospect of a relocation.

    Asked about a possible departure, Delrahim said executives ultimately have obligations to shareholders that would factor into such a decision, according to Reuters. He also suggested California’s next governor would have an interest in preventing Hollywood businesses — including a company as significant as Paramount — from moving elsewhere.

    For Paramount, the stakes extend beyond gaining control of Warner Bros. Discovery’s collection of entertainment properties. The California litigation could determine whether the company must surrender a major asset, accept other restrictions or defend the transaction in court.

    A CNN sale, if ultimately pursued, would represent a significant structural remedy rather than simply a promise governing the combined company’s future conduct. For now, however, Paramount has presented a divestiture as one possibility rather than a settled plan, according to Reuters.

    Source: Reuters