FCC Chair Carr says California could drop lawsuit against Paramount, Warner Bros. merger if CNN is spun off

Source: The Hill

07/15/26 1:06 PM ET


Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr said Wednesday California could drop its joint lawsuit against Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery if CNN is spun off as its own media entity.

“There was a story that broke a couple weeks ago that said that California was floating the idea, according to news reports, of dropping all antitrust litigation if there was one condition that was met, which is that the purchase involved was spinning off of CNN,” Carr told The Hill’s Julia Manchester, noting that he doubts if the legal challenge will be successful.

He added he did not “understand what antitrust theory you have that says there’s a problem with this acquisition that is made or broken based on one cable channel being included.” “So, I think it’s a bit of a tell that this really isn’t a legitimate antitrust case, but ultimately, that’ll be up for the courts to decide,” the FCC chair continued.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) was among 12 state attorneys general who filed a joint lawsuit Monday seeking to block the pending takeover. They argue that the deal violates antitrust law and would enhance Paramount’s power to set terms with theaters and cable channel distributors, while causing consumer prices to rise.

Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5969820-fcc-chair-cnn-spinoff-rumor/