As Paramount Skydance looks to close its pending $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, the David Ellison-led media giant has considered creating an oversight board at CNN to quell concerns about the network’s editorial independence under the combined company.
The discussions, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, come as the deal is now on hold due to litigation from a group of 12 state attorneys general, which is headed to trial in March. Individuals familiar with the talks told WSJ that the discussions about the CNN board began prior to the state AGs’ lawsuit being filed.
“We always remain open to internal improvements to journalistic integrity,” Paramount said in a statement.
In a recent New York Times op-ed, Ellison broke his silence about the state AG lawsuit, arguing that it’s about his ownership of CNN, not antitrust concerns.
At the time, he noted that he does not aspire to lead CBS or CNN to “bend their newsrooms to my views.” He also said that news should be based on facts and truth and that CNN would remain independent and “continue to answer to the facts and to all the people they serve — not to any party or cause.”
Ellison’s business partner and WME Group executive chairman Ari Emanuel previously floated the idea of a CNN editorial board during a CNBC interview last week.
“That’s an easy solve and then they can get to the business of making movies and television, which has been difficult over the last six years,” Emanuel said at the time.
Paramount has agreed to push the merger’s closing until five days after the outcome of a trial, or June 1, 2027, whichever comes earliest. But Ellison and Delrahim have also said “all options are on the table” in order to clear the deal.
While the pair is open to a settlement to resolve the lawsuit and allow the merger to go through, Ellison has also threatened to move the company’s operations out of California if Attorney General Rob Bonta does not come to the table by Oct. 1, when Paramount will start incurring a 25 cent per share ticking fee that translates to $7 million per day or $650 million per quarter until the deal is closed.
At a Politico conference on Tuesday, Bonta called the threat of a move “blackmail” and said that he is open to settlement talks, but that Paramount will have to propose structural remedies, such as divestments, rather than behavioral remedies, like Ellison’s pledge for 30 theatrical film releases per year. He also reiterated that a sale of CNN is not enough on its own to satisfy the states’ concerns.
“I think they’re eager to enter those talks and we are very happy with where we are,” Bonta said. “We’re confident in our case. We will prepare and be ready to go to trial. And if they, in good faith and sincerely, want to talk about settlement with us, of course we will be open to any proposals they want to propose to us. But right now, we’re focused on litigation and going to trial.”
