The $110bn deal closed on Tuesday, putting CBS, CNN, HBO Max, Paramount+ and two major studios under David Ellison's new company, Skydance, with $80bn of debt.
Paramount Skydance has completed its $110bn takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, creating a new company called Skydance that owns two of Hollywood’s five biggest studios and more of the world’s best-known media brands than any company outside Disney. The deal closed on Tuesday, with David Ellison as chief executive and the shares moving to the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, as NBC News reported.
The combined company brings together Paramount and Warner Bros. studios, the streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max, HBO itself, and networks including CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS, TNT, Comedy Central, Discovery and Food Network, along with franchises from Harry Potter to Mission: Impossible. Ellison has added Ynon Kreiz as co-chief executive.
The deal came after a long fight, first with Netflix for control of Warner Bros. Discovery and then with state attorneys general, who settled in September in return for guarantees on film production and the editorial independence of CNN and CBS News. Skydance is carrying close to $80bn of debt and has promised more than $6bn a year in savings within three years, and its leaders have already warned staff of “difficult decisions” ahead.
For media buyers, this is one more giant seller to negotiate with. Skydance now controls a huge share of US television and streaming inventory, from live sport on CBS and TNT to news on CNN, and the combined sales operation will have far more leverage in the annual upfront negotiations. Bigger sellers usually mean higher prices, at least until the cost cutting starts to affect what is on screen.
The streaming question is the one to watch. Paramount+ and HBO Max are expected to combine eventually, and an ad-supported tier with both catalogues would be one of the largest audiences an advertiser could buy outside YouTube and Netflix. In the UK the company also owns Channel 5, one of the five main free-to-air channels, so the effects will be felt here too, at a time when a third of UK video ad money now goes to streaming.
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