Paramount puts CNN sale on table to settle 12-state antitrust suit

Investing.com - Paramount’s chief legal officer said Wednesday that selling CNN is "on the table" to resolve a 12-state antitrust lawsuit threatening the company’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Makan Delrahim made the disclosure at Politico’s California Agenda conference, according to Reuters, signaling that Paramount is willing to go beyond internal safeguards to salvage a deal that has become one of the most politically charged media mergers in years. Warner Bros. Discovery is the publicly traded parent of CNN (NASDAQ: WBD), and the merger’s fate directly determines whether Ellison’s Paramount consolidates control over both CBS News and the cable network.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Paramount has discussed creating an editorial board for CNN and establishing other safeguards to protect the network’s editorial independence, with those internal talks beginning before the antitrust suit was even filed. The company offered a measured response: "We always remain open to internal improvements to journalistic integrity."

The twin disclosures come as Paramount faces a hard deadline. David Ellison told senior executives he will begin relocating company operations out of California on October 1 if the lawsuit is not settled by September 30, Variety confirmed. That same date triggers $7 million per day in ticking fees owed to WBD shareholders, a clock that keeps running until the deal closes.

The California-led coalition, backed by 11 other states, argues the combined company would control nearly one-third of theatrical film distribution and one-third of basic cable channels. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has shown little interest in the pledges Paramount has floated. Writing in a Deadline guest column on August 10, Bonta called the company’s assurances "piecemeal promises" and described the lawsuit as a "straight up antitrust enforcement case." He added: "Paramount has lost the plot as it continues to lose in court."

The political crossfire around Ellison is intensifying alongside the legal battle. Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Ellison on Wednesday accusing him of "colluding" with President Trump and demanding a transcribed interview, citing reports of political interference at CBS News and Paramount’s broader dealings with the Trump administration, CNN reported. Ellison, the son of Trump ally Larry Ellison, pushed back in a New York Times op-ed, arguing that "great news organizations like CNN and CBS News are here to tell it straight down the middle" and suggesting the lawsuit is designed not to protect competition but to block him from owning CNN specifically.

Skeptics have reason to question promises about CNN’s independence. Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Trump over the editing of a "60 Minutes" interview, and a number of CBS correspondents have alleged political interference since Ellison appointed Free Press founder Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief. CBS has denied any political interference. Critics note that assurances made about CBS were rapidly followed by the very editorial controversies Ellison had pledged to prevent, and they warn that a CNN editorial board could become similarly decorative.

The regulatory picture outside the United States has cleared. Britain approved the Paramount-WBD takeover after securing five-year guarantees on programming and editorial independence for Channel 5 news from CNN International and CBS News, Reuters reported, leaving California’s suit as the deal’s sole remaining obstacle.

With no settlement in sight and Bonta giving no public indication of what structural divestitures he would accept, the case appears headed toward a trial before U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín scheduled to begin March 2, 2027. Should proceedings run that long, the ticking fees alone could reach into the billions, though Paramount has not publicly verified a specific ceiling figure. The September 30 settlement deadline Ellison set is now the industry’s most closely watched date.

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