Democrats warned that the likely Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery will mean that MAGA-friendly executives will control dozens more media properties.
The party’s X account on Wednesday reminded consumers of the extent of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison’s influence after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr noted that Donald Trump “is fundamentally reshaping the entire media ecosystem.” This amounts to “oligarchy in action,” the party said.
Paramount Skydance is poised to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN, HBO, TNT, and the Discovery Channel, among many other brands. Its bidding rival, Netflix, backed out of the process last month.
After Ellison’s Skydance merged with Paramount last year, CBS News came under his leadership. Ellison has made efforts to appeal to conservative audiences, but the editorial direction he has overseen has caused problems internally, with several high-profile reporters and correspondents quitting, and others taking buyouts ahead of looming layoffs.
If Ellison gets to manage CNN as well, that would be another win for Trumpworld. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who became touchy about the network’s coverage of the Iran war, said last week Ellison’s acquisition of CNN couldn’t come soon enough.
Ellison himself claimed earlier this month that CNN would get the same treatment as CBS—which he meant as a positive.
“Editorial independence will absolutely be maintained,” Ellison, 43, said. “It is maintained at CBS; it’ll be maintained at CNN.”
But CBS Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, the anti-woke opinion journalist Ellison picked for the role, has been called out by staffers for what they say is a “clearly defined political agenda.”
Jon Stewart, whose Comedy Central show airs on a Warner Bros. channel, was also skeptical of CNN’s future.
“I’d be astonished if they don’t walk in there and go like, ‘Eh, nice show you got here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it,’” Stewart said on his Weekly Show podcast. “I think the kinds of changes that you’re seeing at CBS are in the offing, and he’s got a much more personal grudge against CNN than he does against CBS.”
Trump, who has called CNN the “enemy of the people,” said in December he was all for a change.
“I don’t think the people that are running that company right now and running CNN—which is a very dishonest group of people—I don’t think that should be allowed to continue,” he said. “I think CNN should be sold along with everything.”
A Paramount Skydance rep did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
