Goodbye Warner, hello Skydance: how will the major merger really impact Hollywood?
After a windier road than expected, Paramount and Warner are now one, under the banner of Skydance, and the film industry is set for a shake-up
Hollywood’s big five have officially become the big four. Following a twist-filled saga that saw the century-old studio Warner Bros nearly acquired by the streaming giant Netflix, only to be outbid by Paramount owners Skydance, the company led by billionaire scion David Ellison. After facing legal opposition that ultimately crumbled, Warner Bros and Paramount are officially under the same corporate roof. They are divisions of Skydance, which joins Sony, Disney and Universal as the remaining major-studio players in Hollywood.
The merger goes beyond film production. Eventually, the streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+ will merge into a single entity, though a timeline has not been disclosed. The television channels HBO, Showtime, CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, TNT, TBS and CNN are among many now owned by a single corporation. The presence of CNN on that list has brought particular scrutiny, given the post-Skydance meddling with the once-respected CBS News, resulting in a rocky stewardship from Bari Weiss, who has overseen a dip in both ratings and prestige for the flagship program 60 Minutes. Weiss isn’t expected to add CNN to her purview; current chair Mark Thompson will remain in place for now, and Skydance has insisted that CNN will remain editorially independent. But given Ellison’s chumminess with Donald Trump, who has long ranted incoherently about CNN’s supposed biases, the presence of an oversight board with Ellison appointees has been cold comfort.
