The late-in-the-year news that Warner Bros Discovery has had discussions with Paramount Global about a merger sparked all sorts of prognostication about the future of traditional media and whether the next year will be one of consolidation. A Warner-Paramount matchup may never materialize, but if a deal were structured for a CBS News-CNN combination, it would be a unique melding of two legacy brands with different newsroom cultures. The caveat in all the predictions of merger mania is the regulatory environment in Washington, D.C., where Biden-era agencies and attorneys are taking a harder line on consolidation, most recently with the release of a set of new merger guidelines. That includes challenging such combinations based on the impact they have on labor markets. That isn’t to say no mergers will go through: Microsoft and Activision completed their merger this year, but only after battling the FTC and regulators in the UK.
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