One Company Will Own CNN, CBS, and HBO. Trump's DOJ Just Cleared It.

Trump’s DOJ Cleared the Merger

The Justice Department approved Paramount Skydance’s roughly $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on June 12, 2026. The clearance moved the largest media merger in a generation past federal antitrust review. Shareholders had already voted to approve it, and the deal is on track to close by September.

The companies Paramount would absorb include CNN, HBO, and the Warner Bros. film and television studios. Paramount already owns CBS, the CBS broadcast network, and 60 Minutes.

$110 billion is the price Paramount Skydance agreed to pay for Warner Bros. Discovery, at $31.00 a share in cash.

One Owner for CNN, CBS, and HBO

One company would control much of what Americans watch and read as news. CNN, CBS News, and 60 Minutes would answer to the same owner. So would HBO, the Warner Bros. studios, and the Paramount film library.

Consolidation removes the competition that keeps newsrooms independent. When one owner controls several networks, a single decision about coverage reaches more of the audience, and fewer rival outlets remain to report what the others will not. The deal lands at the lowest point for U.S. press freedom on record.

$24 Billion From Three Governments

Nearly half the combined company would be foreign-owned. Paramount’s own filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission puts total foreign ownership at 49.5%. The largest share comes from three Middle Eastern governments.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, and an Abu Dhabi sovereign fund together put up about $24 billion, a 38.5% stake in the new company. Saudi Arabia’s fund alone would hold 15.1%. The European Commission is reviewing the financing as a possible foreign subsidy. Untangling who actually pays for media is the same problem at the center of dark money in American politics.

The Ellisons’ Record With Trump

David Ellison runs Paramount Skydance. His father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is helping bankroll the Warner Bros. purchase and is one of President Trump’s most prominent business allies.

The same family already reshaped CBS News after winning federal approval for its last merger. Paramount paid Trump $16 million in 2025 to settle his lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. The FCC, chaired by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, approved the Paramount-Skydance merger weeks later. The new owners installed Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief, and more than 70 CBS News journalists have been fired or pushed out since.

Trump has called David Ellison a “great man” who will “do the right thing.” On June 12, Trump’s own Justice Department cleared Ellison’s next acquisition.

What Still Stands in the Way

The merger is not final. State attorneys general can still sue to block it, and several are weighing antitrust challenges. The European Commission opened its foreign-subsidy investigation with a July 14 deadline.

The Federal Communications Commission still has to approve transferring CBS’s broadcast licenses to a company that would be 49.5% foreign-owned. Federal law requires FCC sign-off whenever foreign ownership tops 25%. A group of senators and a sitting FCC commissioner have already called for scrutiny of the foreign investors.

What You Can Do

Call your senators at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to oppose the FCC transferring CBS’s broadcast licenses to the merged company, and to hold hearings on foreign government ownership of U.S. news networks. Use the letter below.
File a public comment with the FCC at fcc.gov/ecfs opposing the transfer of CBS’s licenses to a 49.5% foreign-owned company.
Contact your state attorney general and urge them to join a multistate lawsuit to block the merger on antitrust grounds. State suits are the most active challenge right now.
Support newsrooms the giants do not own. ProPublica, The Marshall Project, and your local public radio station do the accountability reporting that consolidated networks increasingly will not.