12 Democrat AGs Surrender on CNN Takeover [WATCH]

Clay Travis said the settlement, clearing a major legal obstacle to Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery could have significant consequences for CNN and the broader American media landscape.

A coalition of 12 state attorneys general led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta agreed on September 21 to settle its antitrust lawsuit challenging the transaction.

The agreement clears one of the final major hurdles for Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes CNN, HBO and other major media assets. Paramount also owns CBS News.

“Congratulations, Paramount. The 12 Democrat attorneys general who had been opposing the merger between Paramount and Warner Brothers have essentially announced, Hey, we’re giving up, and they have agreed that Paramount is able to buy now Warner Brothers,” Travis said.

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The settlement does not simply end the states’ opposition. Paramount agreed to several conditions, including increased domestic film production, theatrical-release commitments and the creation of an editorial independence board covering CNN and CBS News.

Travis focused primarily on what he believes the deal could mean for CNN under Paramount CEO David Ellison.

“Why does this matter? David Ellison, who is going to own a combined Paramount and Warner Brothers, has said something radical: Hey, I want CNN to just be a middle-of-the-road news network designed to actually cover, in a factual and truthful way, the news. Hallelujah,” Travis said.

He framed the possible change at CNN as part of a larger shift in the media business, comparing it with Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, now X.

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“Twitter being bought by Elon Musk, I believe, was the most significant media move of the 21st century because all it did was just make Twitter fair,” Travis said.

That characterization is Travis’s assessment.

Musk has repeatedly described X as a platform committed to broader speech protections, while critics have raised concerns about moderation changes and misinformation on the platform.

Travis argued that having more large outlets competing from different editorial perspectives would weaken what he described as the left’s historic cultural dominance.

“If we just have a lot of sane sports and cultural news organizations, it makes it far harder to rig the game like MSNBC, The Washington Post historically, The New York Times, and CNN have done,” Travis said.

He also credited Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos for efforts he believes have shifted the newspaper toward a less ideological approach.

“In a significant way, I give credit to Jeff Bezos. He has tried to return The Washington Post to some sense of normalcy,” Travis said.

Travis then pointed to the reaction from Connecticut Attorney General William Tong as evidence that some of the state officials were particularly concerned about CNN’s future editorial direction.

“And they didn’t even hide it. One of the attorneys general, the one from Connecticut, he said that he was upset at this settlement because the result of the settlement he knew was going to be that CNN would be more fair and less of a biased organization, and he said he didn’t want to sign off on it because he wanted to insist that CNN end up with a left-wing owner,” Travis said.

Tong’s actual public statement did not say he wanted CNN placed under a “left-wing owner.”

Tong said Connecticut had pushed for a full divestiture of CNN and CBS News because of concerns about editorial independence, adding that he was disappointed the states could not secure stronger protections.

The settlement ultimately created an editorial independence board for both networks.

“Connecticut wanted and demanded full divestiture of CNN and CBS News,” Tong said in his official statement, while describing his goal as preserving “ethical and independent journalism.”

The California-led settlement also requires Paramount to spend at least $300 million more annually on U.S. film production and meet minimum theatrical release targets for five years.

Reuters reported that the deal allows Paramount to avoid a forced sale of CNN or other major assets while moving the acquisition toward completion.

Travis nevertheless viewed the broader result as positive for the media market.

“They have now laid down their weapons. Soon Warner Brothers will officially be acquired by Paramount,” Travis said.

He closed by praising Ellison and predicting that the combined company could move some of the country’s largest media institutions in a direction he considers more balanced.

“Congratulations to David Ellison. I still hope he moves to the state of Tennessee, but I think he’s trying to bring some measure of sanity back to America. Credit to him for working on that.”

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The merger is expected to combine Paramount, CBS, CNN, Warner Bros., HBO, and several major streaming and cable properties under one corporate structure, making the eventual editorial direction of the combined company a closely watched question across the media industry.

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