9to5Mac⁠59%

HBO Max and Paramount+ may not merge after all ⁠26%

By Ben Lovejoy⁠70%

7/21/2026, 11:52:40 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 11 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Appeal to Authority, and False Dilemma, with Halo Effect as the most egregious example at 15.6% saturation with 51 hits. Analysis detected 291 faulty-reasoning hits from 326 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 37.9% and a BS Rank of ⁠26% (15,292 of 20,446 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 74.80% of the article peer group.

A planned merger of two major streaming platforms, HBO Max and Paramount+, may not be happening after all. 
The plan was announced back in March after Netflix dropped out of the bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery. 
However, a federal judge has now imposed a restraining order preventing the transaction from completing – at least for now … 
The planned merger 
The deal was to see Paramount acquire Warner Bros Discovery, resulting in the company’s respective streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount+ being integrated into a single service. 
Paramount executives didn’t offer any details on how the company may price a combined service or what it would be called. 
Still, Paramount CEO David Ellison said he wouldn’t disrupt the HBO brand. 
“HBO should stay HBO,” he said, citing its long history of quality programming. 
HBO is likely to be a sub-brand within the larger service, according to a person familiar with Paramount’s plans. 
Temporary restraining order 
Viewers were not exactly enthusiastic about the plan, concerned that it would reduce competition and thus increase prices. 
A coalition of 12 state attorneys general agreed, and asked a federal court to impose a temporary restraining order on the transaction. 
NBC News reports that this has now been granted. 
U.S. 
District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern District of California issued a temporary restraining order barring Paramount from closing the transaction, a corporate tie-up that would unite two movie studios, two streaming platforms and two news organizations under the control of David Ellison, the son of billionaire technology tycoon Larry Ellison. 
The restraining order will last for 14 days while arguments are heard. 
Even if Paramount prevails in this case, the merger plan are also being reviewed by both the European Union and the UK government. 
The Writers Guild of America has also filed an antitrust lawsuit on the basis that the merger would result in fewer jobs and lower pay. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 5.4%9to5Mac: 2.6%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 1.8%9to5Mac: 2.3%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 5.8%Ben Lovejoy: 3.8%9to5Mac: 2.8%Availability Heuristic5.8%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 1.9%9to5Mac: 1.0%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.5%9to5Mac: 0.4%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 3.7%9to5Mac: 3.0%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 5.5%Ben Lovejoy: 5.4%9to5Mac: 5.3%Framing Effect5.5%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 1.2%9to5Mac: 1.4%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.8%9to5Mac: 0.7%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.1%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 4.0%9to5Mac: 3.5%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 3.6%9to5Mac: 2.0%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 5.5%Ben Lovejoy: 8.5%9to5Mac: 4.7%Negativity Bias5.5%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.6%9to5Mac: 0.6%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 1.0%9to5Mac: 0.4%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.1%9to5Mac: 0.0%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.6%9to5Mac: 0.4%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.2%9to5Mac: 0.1%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 15.6%Ben Lovejoy: 2.5%9to5Mac: 3.6%Halo Effect15.6%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.0%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 2.3%9to5Mac: 1.8%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.3%9to5Mac: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.2%9to5Mac: 0.1%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.2%9to5Mac: 0.1%Straw Man0.0%This article: 10.4%Ben Lovejoy: 5.5%9to5Mac: 3.7%Appeal to Authority10.4%This article: 7.1%Ben Lovejoy: 1.7%9to5Mac: 1.3%False Dilemma7.1%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.8%9to5Mac: 0.5%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.1%9to5Mac: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 8.7%9to5Mac: 5.0%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.1%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 2.2%9to5Mac: 0.9%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 5.5%Ben Lovejoy: 3.1%9to5Mac: 2.3%Appeal to Emotion5.5%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 1.3%9to5Mac: 0.6%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 6.4%Ben Lovejoy: 2.2%9to5Mac: 1.8%Post Hoc (False Cause)6.4%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.0%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 1.0%9to5Mac: 0.4%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.1%9to5Mac: 0.0%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.1%9to5Mac: 0.1%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 5.8%Ben Lovejoy: 4.2%9to5Mac: 2.5%Anecdotal5.8%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.1%9to5Mac: 0.0%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 2.2%9to5Mac: 2.0%Ambiguity (Equivocation)0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.2%9to5Mac: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.3%9to5Mac: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 5.8%Ben Lovejoy: 4.5%9to5Mac: 2.3%Unattributed Quote5.8%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.4%9to5Mac: 0.4%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 15.6%Ben Lovejoy: 6.4%9to5Mac: 6.1%Biased Writer Voice15.6%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 3.7%9to5Mac: 2.2%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.0%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 0.0%9to5Mac: 0.0%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Ben Lovejoy: 10.6%9to5Mac: 16.0%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

326 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers18%attributed speech267writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageDavid Ellison • 12 words • 0.0% coverageDavid Ellison • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageNBC News • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 51 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageWriters Guild of America • 25 words • 0.0% coverage
100%flagged-word coverage
25 attributed words42% of attributed speech49% writer coverage
0%10.0%20.0%Biased Writer Voice-19.1 ptsWriter: 19.1%Writers Guild of America: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-7.1 ptsWriter: 7.1%Writers Guild of America: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.