[Adsales]

They only own a small minority stake now, since they and their original co owners (guess who? CBS, part of Paramount) sold out to Nexstar. The CW won’t be an issue (and indeed there was no issue with CBS owning 50% of the CW for most of its existence). It’s not like the 21CF/Disney deal which potentially involved ABC and Fox under the one roof (the Murdochs held on to Fox to avoid that).

I think there’s a number of areas of concern, but none is likely to be an obstacle. One is the combination of Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros Pictures. Another is the combination of CBS News and CNN. Yet another is the combination of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Still another is Max and Paramount+. But in none of those areas would a combined player be dominant. And for that reason I think this stands a good chance that this will get through US competition authorities. That doesn’t mean I think it’s a good thing for viewers or content makers, given what WBD (who would be the buyers here) has done, but ultimately that won’t be the test - as always, the directors of each company will make a recommendation on any deal reached based on value to shareholders, who are the only people they are accountable to.

Anyway, by all accounts these are only exploratory talks, and there is no deal yet.

This. There is nothing that would make this merger impossible or not be allowed to happen other than the standard requirements of selling off certain assets to third parties (or closing them).

The CW is of no concern whatsoever. Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network no big obstacle either. The potential problems lie with the studios (Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures), as per usual, but where's a will there's a way.
CBS News plus CNN wouldn't even get close to a quarter marketshare, let alone dominance.
Consolidation of streamers is well overdue and needed; and a merger of Max and Paramount+ is easily structured in a way that satisfies competition authorities if that concern is raised.

If it's not WBD and Paramount who merger, it'll be a combination of or with the others. The industry isn't going to survive in its current form.