DoJ Approves Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Deal, Strengthens Ellison Family’s Control of American Media
Paramount Skydance is cleared to move forward with its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the US Department of Justice announced on Friday. The deal marks a tectonic shift in the American media landscape, further reducing the number of major players in the industry and greatly expanding the influence of the Ellison family.
In its press release announcing the approval, the DoJ dismissed arguments against the merger. It denied that Disney’s acquisition of Fox a few years ago could be used as a lesson, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as a disturbing factor for comparison. It also dismissed the much-maligned labor concerns of industry workers. On June 9, it was reported that the United Kingdom is conducting its own investigation into the deal, a factor that may improve the DoJ’s timeline.
With the acquisition of Warner and related products, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison will operate Warner Bros. Historic Studios, along with HBO and broadcast partner HBO Max. CNN Worldwide, the major broadcast rights holder for the Olympics and the NHL, among others, is also included in the deal, as is Warner Bros. Games. The company already owns Paramount and its TV subsidiaries including CBS, MTV, BET, and Nickelodeon. David Ellison’s father, billionaire Larry Ellison, will reportedly provide $45.7 billion in cash to settle the deal. The elder Ellison owns Oracle, a major provider of server infrastructure. Oracle recently joined a consortium of investors for a 45% stake in the US operations of short-form video platform TikTok. Together, the son-son duo now control a media portfolio to rival Disney. (Megan Ellison, the elder Ellison’s daughter, has her own independent media career outside of the father-son portfolio.)
The DoJ’s approval of the deal comes after several scandals at CBS News, which have raised fears about CNN’s future. Larry Ellison is a personal friend of president Donald Trump, who suggested that the current leadership of CNN is “corrupt and incompetent.” Under the Ellisons’ control of Paramount, Bari Weiss was installed as the head of CBS News, and he wasted no time in hacking the legacy news organization. Now, the fear is that the same fate may befall CNN.
Recently, Weiss was fired 60 Minutes writer Scott Pelley, a decision that led Pelley to remain 60 Minutes staff will speak, with Pelley saying the respected news program is being “killed” by Weiss. A 60 Minutes a report on conditions at ICE facilities was disbanded in December, and journalist Cecelia Vega was fired in May while working on a report on Francesca Albanese, the US-appointed UN special secretary for the occupied Palestinian territories. Vega’s journalistic work was withheld from him at the time of the shooting, raising concerns that his sources could be exposed by CBS.
Under Ellisons control, CBS also moved to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colberta decision Paramount Skydance said was motivated by financial realities but still followed Colbert’s segment publicly criticizing the $16 million payment to President Trump by CBS.
In May, more than 5,500 film and television industry professionals signed an open letter warning that the acquisition of Warner by Paramount would “threaten the sustainability of the entire creative community.” Signatures include Glenn Close, Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix, Kevin Bacon and many other Hollywood names.
Although the approval of the DoJ was the main obstacle to the historic agreement, state attorneys in California and New York have shown their intention to bring challenges against it, in addition to the investigation by European officials and the aforementioned investigation of the UK. Paramount Skydance has until Sept. 30 to officially close the deal before it is subject to a daily $7 million markup payment to Warner Bros. shareholders. Discovery.
