Federal antitrust investigators cheerfully wave through Paramount's Warner Bros. purchase

All of these concerns, the Department Of Justice’s antitrust investigators have now taken in, given a long, hard think about, and then responded with a blithe, “Naw, we’re good.” This is per Politico, which reports that the federal government’s antitrust division has now granted its full approval to the merger, which it reportedly said does not “pose a threat to competition,” and will go through “without requiring any divestitures, behavioral remedies, or concessions.” 

Now, as Politico notes, the DOJ isn’t the only governmental body that can pitch an obstructionist stink here; a number of state attorneys general have expressed an interest in taking legal action to try to possibly block the sale, with California’s Rob Bonta obviously somewhere pretty close to the front of the line. Bonta’s office issued a statement this week saying that “The Paramount acquisition of Warner Brothers remains an active investigation,” despite Paramount’s own legal officers arguing that the hybrid HBO Max/Paramount+ monster they intend to create out of the sale will serve as a more potent rival to Netflix, actually increasing Hollywood competition. But regardless of what the states do, clearing the DOJ’s approval process does remove a major hurdle from the sale, as Ellison continues his voracious bid to go from “Larry Ellison’s kid who likes movies” to “Larry Ellison’s kid who likes movies, and now owns like half of Hollywood.”