The laborious mega media deal that had to clear hurdles and dodge obstacles and arm-wrestle in court and face high-profile pushback from some of entertainment’s biggest names finally became official on Tuesday.
Paramount Skydance closed its $111 billion deal to take over Warner Bros. Discovery. The result is a new company called Skydance, which The Washington Post calls “a new megacorporation in Hollywood, streaming and news.” It will own Paramount and Warner Bros.’ film and TV studios, the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services and news giants CNN and CBS News.
Skydance chairman and co-CEO David Ellison said in a statement, “Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry. We couldn’t be more excited to get to work.”
And there is plenty of work to be done.
The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin wrote, “There were some signs of early turbulence on the horizon. On Tuesday, the ratings agency Fitch said it was downgrading the combined company to reflect increased debt as well as ‘significant execution and integration risks.’ And Mr. Ellison and Mr. Kreiz alluded to the prospect of looming layoffs in their memo. They must deliver $6 billion in cost-cutting over the next three years — a target they are likely to hit, in part by eliminating thousands of jobs.”
Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said, “Integrating two companies will bring change, including difficult decisions that affect our workforce. We are committed to handling this process thoughtfully and respectfully.”
For the news media, the big question is how CBS News and CNN will carry on under one roof. For now, CBS News will continue to be run by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, while CNN will continue to be headed by Mark Thompson.
Weiss said in a staff call Tuesday, “Nothing right now is going to change. This is a process that’s going to unfold under time.”
As for CNN, there has been concern about what the network could look like under Ellison, who has a friendly relationship with President Donald Trump.
But Ellison tried to address those concerns during a town hall meeting Tuesday where he was interviewed by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. Ellison told Cooper, “We believe in complete editorial independence. We trust Mark. We trust the team.”
Cooper asked, “You’re pledging not to interfere with news coverage of CNN?”
Ellison said, “Correct. We’ve been very clear.”
In addition, Ellison said he backs CNN’s efforts to push back against Trump and the president’s attempts to ban CNN from covering him.
Ellison has won the big prize of acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery. But it’s not the end of the race; it’s just the start. The New York Times has this piece: “5 Challenges David Ellison Faces as He Snags His Hollywood Prize.”
The first is what will become of CNN. The Times’ Michael M. Grynbaum wrote, “Skeptics will also be watching to see if Mr. Ellison — who has hosted a dinner for Mr. Trump and has hobnobbed with the president at Ultimate Fighting Championship matches — puts a thumb on the editorial scale. For now, Mr. Ellison has walled off CNN from Bari Weiss, his pick to oversee CBS News, although that is subject to change.”
Among Ellison’s other pressing matters is keeping the National Football League happy.
The Times’ Ken Belson wrote, “When it comes to attracting viewers, nothing beats live sports, one of the last bastions of appointment viewing. And in the sports world, nothing draws viewers like the National Football League.”
Belson added, “CBS Sports’ current deal with the N.F.L., which costs about $2.1 billion a year, expires at the end of the 2033 season. But because CBS Sports changed control when Mr. Ellison bought Paramount last year, the N.F.L. can reopen negotiations up until August. The N.F.L. could also opt out of their deal at the end of the 2029 season. The N.F.L. has not exercised its change-of-control option. But some industry analysts say the league could seek $1 billion more per year from CBS Sports. In return, the N.F.L. would drop its opt-out option in 2029, giving CBS Sports certainty into the next decade.”
With the deal now closed, Warner Bros. Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav will exit the company. He shared a video with employees, thanking them for their hard work over the years.
During the three-minute video, he said, “For me, it’s been a great honor to be alongside all of you. I hope you take pride in what you’ve built, what you’ve created, and the role you’ve played in shaping an extraordinary history.”
He added, “I can’t wait to see what you do in the years ahead. I’m so grateful for all these years at Warner Bros. Discovery, for the wonderful experiences creating content, telling stories and getting to know so many of you.”
(Variety’s Todd Spangler had a transcript of Zaslav’s remarks.)
Spangler wrote, “Zaslav has been among the most highly compensated CEOs in the media biz. In 2025, his pay package totaled $165 million.” He added that Zaslav is set to receive a “golden parachute” payout of at least $550 million.
Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr, shown here in March. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
In April, the Federal Communications Commission took the rare step of launching an early review of local broadcast licenses for eight ABC stations. On Tuesday, Disney, which owns ABC, appeared in federal court and accused the Trump administration of “blatant violations of the U.S. Constitution” and asked a judge to bar the FCC from its early review. The FCC, meanwhile, wants Disney’s argument thrown out.
Disney argues the FCC and its chairman, Brendan Carr, are requiring the stations to apply early for license renewals at the behest of President Donald Trump because of Trump’s objections to some of ABC’s programming, including “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The View.” The FCC says it is looking into ABC’s diversity and inclusion employment practices.
The Guardian’s Jeremy Barr wrote, “District judge Loren AliKhan seemed unswayed by government arguments that the order to force Disney’s ABC to apply years early to renew local television station licenses was tied to an investigation into parent company Disney’s hiring practices.”
A decision in the case is not expected for at least a week.
The New York Times’ John Koblin and Jim Rutenberg wrote, “If the judge rules in Disney’s favor, it will be a stinging loss for Mr. Carr, and could undermine his nearly two-year effort to rein in the major broadcast networks with the looming prospect of government action.”
So how might this turn out?
Koblin and Rutenberg wrote, “Legal experts are split on ABC’s chances of success. Supporters of Mr. Carr say the F.C.C. could persuasively argue that ABC was seeking to short-circuit the ordinary legal process, while F.C.C. opponents say ABC has a good chance of persuading the court that the agency’s proceedings were in fact infringing on ABC’s rights. Legal experts agree that ABC’s success in the case will hinge on making a convincing argument that it is suffering immediate harm through the F.C.C.’s adjudication process.”
An interesting sports media story has developed over the past week.
On Oct. 1, the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA announced that it had hired 29-year-old Braiden Bell as the team’s new television play-by-play announcer. Within hours of that announcement, the team announced that it had fired Bell because of racist and misogynistic tweets he posted when he was 15 years old.
In one tweet, Bell wrote, “I’m not racist at all.. But not gonna lie.. Asian people piss me off! Hahaha #Honest.”
In other tweets, he used derogatory words to describe women.
The old tweets were uncovered by Devon Haskins, a reporter at KGW News, the NBC affiliate in Portland. KGW news director John Tierney tweeted on Oct. 1, “KGW reporter @devonhaskins found the tweets this afternoon. We were in the process of reporting our story when the Blazers sent us a statement that they fired Bell.”
In their statement, the Trail Blazers said, “The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments. Social media posts made by our recently announced play-by-play broadcaster are in clear violation of team and league policies, as well as our values and expectations. Therefore, we will not be moving forward with this broadcaster. The play-by-play role carries a long legacy of excellence, on the broadcast and in character, and we hold that standard without exception. We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City. We believe strongly that everyone who is a part of Rip City should feel welcome and safe, and we will make sure that our new broadcaster reflects these values. We will do better.”
This sparked two fiery debates. The first is a question that has come up in similar situations: Should someone be punished for things they wrote years ago as a young person — in this case, when Bell was 15? KGW reported that their review “did not locate any offensive tweets from Bell after he became an adult.”
Still, there’s no dispute that the tweets were offensive and problematic.
Bell put out a statement that said, “I am deeply sorry for the language that I used on Twitter. These tweets, while wrong, were written by me 14 years ago while I was only 15 years old and have no reflection of who I am today. I do not take lightly any harm it causes now. I regret this being the first impression to many of you online, but I can take solace in knowing that the people who truly know me understand that this is not the kind of person I am. Again, I’d like to apologize to anyone who was hurt by my words and will continue to always treat people with kindness and respect.”
The other noteworthy thing that happened was that KGW and Haskins have been inundated with criticism on social media for reporting on Bell’s social media history and the old tweets — some of which date back to 2012. Haskins has since deleted his X account because of the backlash.
The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, one of the top sports media journalists in the business, posted his thoughts on X, writing, “A good organization would have researched if there was anything more to Braiden Bell’s tweets. If there were not, it would let him apologize for insensitive tweets as a 15-year-old and let him keep the job. The Trail Blazers do not appear to be a good organization.”
Bell asked the Trail Blazers for a second chance this week. His attorney, Arnie Herz, said in a statement, “Should the worst words a fifteen-year-old ever wrote decide the rest of his life? That is the question now before the Portland Trail Blazers. Braiden is not asking anyone to excuse what he wrote. He has owned it, without excuses. What he is asking is whether a boy’s words from fourteen years ago should outweigh everything the man has done since. If that is the standard, hardly anyone in any organization in America could meet it. Accountability means owning what you did and showing who you have become. Braiden has done both.”
That appeal didn’t appear to get anywhere.
The Trail Blazers responded with this short statement to The Athletic’s Jason Quick: “We stand by our statement issued last week and have no further comment at this time. We wish Mr. Bell the best.”
After news of Bell’s firing broke, veteran journalist Jemele Hill posted this good advice:
I tell every young journalist to delete their social media accounts and just start new ones once they begin pursuing this career. There is no way you were posting anything on social media as a teenager that is going to age well. You aren’t famous. You don’t have a following big enough to justify keeping it. Just start over.
- Fox News turns 30 years old today. Here’s Axios’ Sara Fischer with “Fox News’ ratings margin hits widest point as it turns 30.” Fischer said, “Last year, the network averaged 1.69 million total-day viewers, compared with 551,000 for MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, and 432,000 for CNN. In primetime, that margin was even wider. Fox News averaged 2.65 million daily primetime viewers, compared with 915,000 for MS NOW and 573,000 for CNN.”
- In her “Ask the Recruiter” column for Poynter, Boston Globe managing editor Cristina Silva with “Want to be an opinion writer? First, learn how to report.”
- Originally published in the Student Press Report, a national news desk highlighting the successes and challenges facing college journalism, here’s Jennifer Nehrer with “The reporting their universities didn’t want.”
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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
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