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President Donald Trump had made clear he wanted the Ellison family " Paramount chief executive David Ellison and his father, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison " in charge of CNN.

"It's imperative that CNN be sold," Trump said last December, signaling his preference for Paramount's bid. The Trump administration's Justice Department cleared the merger in June without requiring Paramount to sell any assets or make any other concessions, CNN reported.

Judge Martnez-Olgun was unconvinced the deal was legal. Under antitrust law, a merger that concentrates a market is presumed unlawful " the company must prove the deal is safe, not the other way around.

The combined firm would control roughly 27% of the wide-release theatrical film market, she found, with market concentration spiking by approximately 359 points on the standard industry measure.

The ruling applied a long-standing legal standard: the proposed merger was "so inherently likely to lessen competition substantially that it must be enjoined."