
October 6th, 2026
Paramount’s $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery closed Tuesday.
The combined company is now known as Skydance.
It brings together Paramount+ and HBO Max, along with Warner’s smaller Discovery+ and Paramount’s Pluto TV and BET+.
CEO David Ellison has said the company plans to unify its streaming products into a single service over time.
He also said HBO should stay HBO and keep some independence.
The combined streaming library covers roughly 14% of the U.S. market, according to the guide JustWatch.
That is comparable to Disney+ but behind Amazon Prime at 17% and Netflix at 19%.
Critics warn that subscription fees could rise as the company pays down the debt Ellison took on for the deal.
The merger also leaves fewer companies controlling legacy film production.
Under a settlement with 12 states last month, the company agreed to release 30 films in theaters each year for two years.
After that, it will release 32 films a year for three more years.
The deal puts CNN and CBS under the same ownership, which worries many journalists.
The Ellison family has close ties to President Donald Trump.
CBS News has moved to appeal to conservative viewers since Ellison named Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief.
At “60 Minutes,” management fired its executive producer and three veteran correspondents.
Those correspondents have said Weiss sought changes to news reports that appeared driven by politics.
Trump, who has called both networks’ reporting “fake news,” said Tuesday he is happy the merger closed.
The FCC allowed sovereign funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to indirectly own nearly 50% of the company’s equity.
They could potentially own up to 100% through future investments, with no voting rights.
Ellison has said CNN will keep editorial independence.
The company is retaining Mark Thompson as CNN’s editor-in-chief.
It has also agreed to form a “News Editorial Independence Board.”
Skydance’s corporate board will choose who sits on that body.
October 6th, 2026

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