European Commission Approves Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger

Jul 22, 2026 11:20am PT European Commission Approves Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger

By Gene Maddaus

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Gene Maddaus

Senior Media Writer

@GeneMaddaus

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Nate Jensen Courtesy of Paramount

The European Commission approved the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday, removing one of the few remaining obstacles to closing the $111 billion deal.

As a condition of the approval, Paramount has already agreed to cancel its film distribution partnership with Universal in Europe within the next 13 months.

A federal judge in Oakland, Calif., on Monday temporarily halted the merger, pending a hearing on a preliminary injunction sought by 12 states including California and New York. The states argue that the deal will consolidate two of the top three basic cable programmers in the U.S. and two of the top film film distributors, leading to higher prices and less output.