Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison suggested his company is planning to keep CNN and CBS News as separate brands Thursday after ultimately merging with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Ever since Paramount beat Netflix in its higher bid to acquire WBD last week, media industry figures have raised concerns about how the to-be-combined company will manage CNN and whether it will be similar to how CBS News saw a massive overhaul in its leadership last year.
Ellison asserted that the two news outlets will “absolutely” get to maintain their editorial independence.
“It’s maintained at CBS. It’ll be maintained at CNN,” he told CNBC in an exclusive interview Thursday morning. “And, really, who we want to talk to is the 70% of Americans and really around the world that identify as center-left, as center-right. And we want to be in the truth business. We want to be in the trust business. And that’s not going to change.”
Consternation surrounding Paramount’s future ownership of CNN stems from the Ellison family’s ties to the White House. Ellison’s father, Larry, is the co-founder of Oracle and a notable ally of President Donald Trump.
Additionally, Paramount’s chief executive reportedly spoke with the president about the prospect of adding CNN to the company’s portfolio months before its merger agreement was approved. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ellison assured Trump that he would make “sweeping changes” to CNN if he succeeded in acquiring WBD.
Now, many CNN staffers are worried about their job security as the transaction proceeds. The deal still needs to be approved by federal regulators, namely the Department of Justice, before it can close.
In the meantime, Democratic attorneys general could slow down the regulatory process by filing an antitrust lawsuit that could take months in court. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is currently leading an investigation into the merger.
Ellison said he had met with both Democratic and Republican attorneys general and promised to continue collaborating with state officials and regulators in the United States and abroad.
Elsewhere in the CNBC interview, Ellison hailed the merger as a “positive” for CNN and CBS News and outlined a plan for consumers to watch the news channels on the streaming service that will combine Paramount+ and HBO Max.
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“CNN and CBS News are brands that we also really want to be a part of transitioning to streaming so that consumers have the choice,” Ellison said.
“If they want to watch our incredible news brands on broadcast, they can do that. If they want to watch on cable, they can do that,” he said. “But we also want to create a world where if they want to watch on streaming, they can do that, and where we can really meet consumers where they are. We’re going to invest in the news business.”