{"id":794390,"date":"2026-10-07T03:14:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T03:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/794390\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T03:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T03:14:16","slug":"paramount-completes-111bn-acquisition-of-warner-bros-to-form-new-media-empire-skydance-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/794390\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramount completes $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros to form new media empire Skydance | Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paramount<\/a> completed its $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery<\/a> on Tuesday, consolidating some of the world\u2019s most recognizable studios and news outlets after a bidding war with Netflix and months of legal turmoil.<\/p>\n

The new company, now called Skydance, will have David Ellison, the son of a billionaire tech mogul, at its helm, with the former CEO of Mattel, Ynon Kreiz, as co-executive. They will oversee Paramount and Warner Bros\u2019 movie studios, HBO Max, CBS News and CNN.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,\u201d Ellison said in a statement. \u201cFrom the start, our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consolidation of Paramount and Warner Bros combines two of the last five legacy studios in Hollywood, which includes Disney, Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures.<\/p>\n

Though the merger was approved in June, California, New York and 10 other states sued<\/a> Paramount over concerns that the move would \u201cextinguish\u201d competition and lead to fewer movie theaters in theaters and at home.<\/p>\n

As part of the settlement agreement<\/a> reached last month, Skydance is required to release a minimum of 30 films each year and more than 180 television shows. CBS News and CNN will also be required<\/a> to maintain independent editorial boards.<\/p>\n

A trustee will monitor Skydance\u2019s compliance with the terms of the settlement. Rob Bonta, the California attorney general, said he would be prepared to go to court if the company ever fails to comply.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis settlement is not a vote of support for this merger; it\u2019s not a blessing of the broader merger,\u201d he said on 21 September, when the settlement was announced. \u201cBroadly speaking, we believe further consolidation in markets that are essential to American economic life doesn\u2019t serve the American economy, consumers or competition well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The merger has also raised concerns<\/a> about Ellison\u2019s influence<\/a> over CNN after his overhaul of CBS News. Ellison is the son of Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle who was a Trump megadonor in the 2024 presidential election. The elder Ellison\u2019s net worth is $193bn, according to Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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When David Ellison\u2019s Skydance Corporation acquired<\/a> Paramount last year, he appointed Bari Weiss<\/a>, a former New York Times opinion writer who launched an \u201canti-woke\u201d media outlet, as the head of CBS News, despite her lack of television experience. Since then, the television network has faced accusations of bias toward the Trump administration, though Ellison has defended his stewardship of both CBS and now, CNN.<\/p>\n

On Monday, CNN\u2019s CEO, Mark Thompson, announced<\/a> that he would remain in his role under its new parent company, saying that he had spoken with Ellison and Skydance leadership and that he has \u201creal confidence that they both understand and will fully support the principle and practice of the kind of independent news that CNN has always stood for\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paramount completed its $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery on Tuesday, consolidating some of the world\u2019s most recognizable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-794390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}