Paramount completes Warner Bros. Discovery takeover, forming Skydance
publishers 48articles 61first reported 25 Sep, 09:49 UTCdeveloping since 25 Sep · 19 editions
Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, creating a combined entertainment company called Skydance after a bidding contest with Netflix and legal challenges to the deal.
The transaction values Warner Bros. Discovery at about $81 billion, or roughly $110 billion when assumed debt is included. The merger places Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures, the CNN and CBS News networks, and the HBO Max and Paramount+ streaming services under one company. Its holdings also include television networks such as TNT, MTV, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Comedy Central, along with franchises including Harry Potter, DC, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek.
Skydance began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD, while Warner Bros. Discovery shares ceased trading. David Ellison will serve as chairman and chief executive, with former Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz overseeing day-to-day operations as co-CEO. The combined company has nearly $70 billion in annual revenue and about $80 billion in debt.
The deal closed less than a week after a federal judge approved a settlement with 12 states that had sought to block it on antitrust grounds. According to Al Jazeera, the settlement requires Skydance to establish an independent editorial oversight board for CNN and CBS News within 180 days. CNN editor-in-chief Mark Thompson and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss will remain in their positions.
Skydance is targeting about $6 billion in cost savings within three years. Company leaders have acknowledged that layoffs will follow the merger, while committing to release 30 theatrical films annually and produce more than 180 television shows and series.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 4 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 144 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
- 48
- Source articles
- 61
- Given to the writer
- 8, 4 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 144 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and published it as written.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →