As "legacy" media, formerly known as the mainstream media, were still throwing fits over a more moderate (but still biased!) CBS News, and the changes after Paramount bought The Free Press, a major independent digital news outlet, and appointed its founder Bari Weiss as CBS News’s new editor‑in‑chief, bringing a little more balance to the programming, now we see that liberal states have settled their lawsuit over the merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers.
This has led to headlines such as "CNN Mood ‘Like a Funeral’ as Paramount’s Warner Bros. Win Casts New Haze on Next Steps," from Variety, and other left leaning media and reports.
A new corporate parent, Paramount Skydance is set to take the reins of CNN in October, and with that change of control could come entirely new goals — and means of executing them.
Even Mark Thompson, chairman and CEO of CNN, seemed to not know much about next steps. “Over the coming days you’ll hear much more about what this means for CNN, including the date of the close,” he told staffers Monday.
The mood at CNN is “like a funeral,” says one person familiar with the operation.
Brief recap of the timeline on the hostile takeover by Paramount of Warner Bros., includes an attempt by Warner Bros. to hand the auction of Warner Bros. to Netflix, before Paramount went directly to shareholders to make them an offer they would have been crazy to refuse since it was far superior to the Netflix offer.
In February 2026, Paramount made a revised offer, while also promising to cover Netflix's breakup fee, and—as a display of confidence that it would be approved and completed in a timely manner—paying an ongoing penalty to WBD shareholders if the sale was not completed by a specific deadline. Paramount's revised offer at $31 per share was deemed superior by the WBD board, and was approved by its shareholders on April 23, 2026. On June 12, 2026, the sale was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice. (Source)
Then AGs from liberally run states banded together and sued stop the merger, and the news this week that the lawsuits have been dropped or "settled", and the expected turnover of assets, which include CNN, to Paramount, is set for October 5, 2026.
Reports emerged over the two months that Newsom would like to see a settlement deal struck between the AGs and defendants Paramount and Warner Bros rather than the whole affair heading to trial. He didn’t take an official position until August, when he expressed concerns but ultimately pushed for both sides to reach a deal outside of court.
Newsom got heat from Mark Ruffalo, a staunch critic of the merger, who blamed him specifically for delivering “a huge win to Trump and his billionaire cronies.”
At the presser Monday, Bonta assured that this deal was a win, but he conceded that the state leaders still ultimately believe the merger should not happen.
Ellison indicated separately on Monday that the deal will likely be finalized in the next two weeks.
Why would Newsome push for a settlement? Hollywood Reporter gives us that answer:
So why blink now? Here, the timing of the settlement is key. For California, the worst case scenario wasn’t only the merger being allowed to proceed but also Paramount moving its headquarters and hundreds of employees out of California while the case progressed. Call the threat a bluff if you want, but Ellison had been in talks with Tennessee and Texas officials leading up to the deal, with a decision expected at the start of next month. State politicians were clearly rattled as Los Angeles sees historically low filming levels. For Newsom, the departure of one of Hollywood’s most public-facing companies under his tenure as he teases a presidential run would’ve been a particularly unwelcome outcome.
Emphasis in bold mine.
We also know the entire thing was headed to the Supreme Court, who told California AG Rob Bonta this month to respond to a challenge by Iowa and Montana looking to stop the antitrust lawsuit, signaling a potential review of the case. (Source)
As you'll see by just a sample of reactions on the social media platform now known as X, there is not a lot of sympathy for CNN, where users point out that had CNN not allowed themselves to become a propaganda machine for Democrats, this likely wouldn't even be happening.
The replies to the Variety story were brutal.
The original thread with responses to the Variety piece on X has many, many more reactions and can be found at this link.
As many can imagine, staffers at CNN are in a panic that they too might be forced to actually show both sides of an issue, or become more balanced instead of just being a propaganda machine for Democrats to run to.
Some of the reactions include one predicting a "bloodbath," another, as mentioned above say the mood is "like a funeral," and yet another likening the Paramount takeover to a "hurricane," coming.
BOTTOM LINE.....
If we see the same type of scenario we witnessed at CBS News after Paramount and David Ellison took control, then the level of noise surrounding this merger will get louder at every single change made.
The changes at CBS News included their reporters to being forced to cite reactions from both sides of an issue, the termination of high profile names as well as resignations of other high profile names, along with complaints by liberal reporters that they were being forced to offer both sides of any given issue, with claims they were being censored by being forced to write articles in a manner that required a sense of balance.
One last bit of news to create massive liberal panic, which we'll follow up on if it happens, is that reports are coming out that Paramount is putting together a number of investors to complete this merger with Warner Bros. and Elon Musk may be one of those investors, giving him at least some say in the future of CNN.
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