US Department of Justice approves Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery

The approval, signed off by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, clears a major regulatory hurdle for the merger of the two US studios.

Paramount reached its deal to acquire WBD in February 2026 after months of negotiations, and after a rival bid by Netflix failed.

The decision paves the way for Paramount to combine with WBD’s film and television assets, which include CNN and the HBO Max streaming service. It is likely Paramount+ and HBO Max would merge to create a new offering with around 200 million subscribers.

In a statement on its decision, the DOJ said it had conducted a "rigorous" investigation of the proposed deal and found it was "not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers."

Instead, the department said it found the deal would likely "increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers."

Regulators considered whether the deal would hurt competition in video streaming and concluded it would likely increase competition by giving customers a more "robust competitive alternative" to larger video streaming alternatives.

It said the evidence showed the acquisition “is not likely to harm competition for linear television given the robust competitive landscape for live programming.”

It also concluded that the transaction “is not likely to harm competition in studio development, production, or distribution of films for theatrical release.”

Despite DOJ approval, the deal still has other hurdles to cross. States like California are reviewing the sale and could sue to block it, while regulators in the UK and Europe are also examining the deal.

The eight-month investigation by the DOJ received over two million documents about the case.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently published the commencement notice for its investigation of Paramount Skydance’s anticipated acquisition of WBD, marking the official beginning of the inquiry. Discover more here.