Paramount on Tuesday completed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, uniting two of Hollywood’s most storied studios in a media empire spanning television, news and cinema under the control of David Ellison.
Paramount won a bidding war against Netflix in February for Warner Bros. The combined company, renamed Skydance, brings together Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, the CBS News and CNN networks, and the HBO and CBS television brands. Ellison plans to eventually merge the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services over time. Discovery, and the Trump administration approved the deal, one of the largest-ever media mergers, in June without demanding a change to its business.
Skydance, which will have nearly $70 billion in annual revenue, said it is targeting more than $6 billion in cost savings within three years.
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” said Ellison, whose ultra-wealthy family has ties to US President Donald Trump. Opponents in the movie industry said the combined company would slash jobs in a Hollywood already under pressure and reduce the number of films produced every year, while news media groups feared CNN’s independence could be compromised.
