GERMANY PERSPECTIVE

Berlin, July 22, 2026. In Germany, the decision by a federal judge in California to suspend the acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery by Paramount Skydance for two weeks is drawing attention from the economic press. According to Handelsblatt and Zeit Online, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín has prohibited the two groups from finalizing the deal, valued at approximately $111 billion (€97 billion), and scheduled a hearing for August 3. Twelve US states led by Democrats, including California, have taken the matter to court, arguing that the merger would result in "higher prices, lower quality, and less content" for the public, as reported by Zeit Online. The judge ruled that the states had raised "serious questions" about the competitive consequences of the merger and could potentially prevail on the merits.

The German press highlights the paradox: the US Department of Justice had approved the deal in June without any conditions, stating that it would not harm competition or consumers in streaming or film production. Handelsblatt, citing the Wall Street Journal, notes that the approval was given by the department's leadership before the relevant jurists could even formulate a recommendation - a detail that fuels doubts about the independence of the antitrust review.

German media also emphasize the political dimension of the case. Paramount's CEO, David Ellison, and his father, Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of Oracle, are presented as supporters of Donald Trump. The deal includes the news channel CNN, which has been critical of the president. Zeit Online recalls that over 1,000 screenwriters, actors, and directors had warned as early as April, in an open letter, against excessive concentration in the audiovisual sector among a few powerful groups. Handelsblatt notes that Trump himself had publicly expressed his desire to see CNN change ownership as part of this merger. For the German economic press, accustomed to a stricter European antitrust framework, the episode illustrates the tensions inherent in the US system, where judicial decisions and political pressures intersect around control of the major media outlets.