The US$81 billion Warner-Paramount mega merger has received shareholder approval, sending a deal that could transform Hollywood and the broader media landscape nearing the finish line.According to preliminary vote counts Thursday, an overwhelming majority of Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted in favor of selling the entire business to Paramount for $31 a share, the company said. The value of this deal including debt is about $ 111 billion.Skydance-owned Paramount wants to buy Warner’s entire stake. That means cult-favorite titles like HBO Max, “Harry Potter” and even CNN may soon find themselves under the same roof as CBS, “Top Gun” and the Paramount+ streaming service. The green signal from the company’s shareholders increases the chances of this becoming a reality.But the deal still faces regulatory reviews, including from the US Justice Department. Warner said it expects to close the deal sometime in the third fiscal quarter.Paramount’s search for Warner hasn’t been easy so far. And while Warner’s board now supports the Paramount merger, it was not always eager to enter into this particular marriage.Late last year, Warner turned down Paramount’s offer to make a $72 billion studio and streaming deal with Netflix. Paramount, meanwhile, went straight to shareholders with a hostile bid to take over the entire company, including the cable business, which Netflix did not want.The three companies battled publicly for months over who had the better offer. Warner’s board repeatedly supported Netflix’s bid. But ultimately, Paramount offered more money and Netflix abruptly dropped out of the race rather than prolong the fight.That corporate drama may be over now, but the implications are still there. Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have expressed “categorical opposition” to the deal in a letter, arguing that further consolidation would lead to job losses and fewer choices for filmmakers and moviegoers.Some MLAs are also ringing alarm bells.“What’s at stake is clearly not just a corporate deal, but who controls the news, who controls entertainment, who controls storytelling,” Democratic Senator Cory Booker said at a “Spotlight” hearing on the merger in Washington last week. “It’s about the concentration and consolidation of cultural power.”The merger would bring together two of Hollywood’s five remaining legacy studios. It will join the two major streaming platforms – Paramount+ and HBO Max – and the two big names in America’s TV news landscape – CBS and CNN – as well as other brands and entertainment networks.Company executives argue this will be good news for consumers, saying they will have access to a larger content library, especially if HBO Max and Paramount+ become a streaming service. And Paramount CEO David Ellison has tried to reassure filmmakers with a 45-day theatrical window guarantee and a goal of releasing 30 films a year between Paramount and Warner, which he has said will remain a stand-alone operation under a combined company.“I love cinema and I love film,” Ellison said at CinemaCon last week. “You can count on our full commitment.”But the new owner will also want to cut costs. Regulatory filings have already indicated that this will include layoffs and shrinking some overlapping operations. And critics are skeptical about the consumer benefits — warning of higher prices that could arise when it comes to streaming, and potentially less variety in content down the road.Then there is the news. Since coming under Skydance ownership less than a year ago, Paramount-owned CBS has already seen significant editorial changes, most notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News. If the Warner acquisition goes through, many are expecting similar changes at CNN, which has long drawn the ire of President Donald Trump.Other questions of political influence have piled up. The Justice Department and the company’s leadership have said politics will play no role in the regulatory process — but Trump himself has spoken publicly several times about Warner’s future, despite what he once suggested would be his personal role. Trump also has a close relationship with the Ellison family, particularly with billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who is putting billions of dollars on the table to support his son’s company’s bid.Meanwhile, according to regulatory filings, Paramount has secured money from several sovereign investment funds – including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as well as funds from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. But such investors will not have voting rights in a future Paramount-Warner combo, the filing said. Paramount has not publicly specified how much they are contributing.Other countries, including European regulators, are considering the deal – and states may also try to challenge it. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been particularly vocal about the transaction, and said his state is investigating.