As Paramount‘s $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery gets closer to being completed, CNN is getting ready for what the merger will mean for the media company.
Warner Bros. is CNN’s parent company, meaning the news property will be a major part of the acquisition alongside other assets including HBO, the Warner Bros.’ movie studio and more. This has left CNN staffers uncertain about the company’s future given shifts that David Ellison has implemented at CBS News.
After closing Skydance’s $8 billion deal for Paramount Global last summer, Ellison appointed Bari Weiss editor-in-chief of CBS News, which has led to many shifts. Most recently, Weiss ignited a major overhaul of 60 Minutes, which saw Nick Bilton named the show’s new executive producer, terminating exec producer Tanya Simon while many correspondents and producers were also fired.
Scott Pelley has been the most vocal of those terminated from 60 Minutes, as he was fired after a fiery meeting with Bilton, where he claimed Weiss is “murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place; she was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.” He also told Bilton that he had “slender qualifications” for the job, and suggested he was not welcome at the flagship newsmagazine.
Ellison has not revealed any plans for CNN, although he has publicly stated that “editorial independence will absolutely be maintained” amid the merger. However, according to The New York Times, the network’s newsroom is wary that Ellison may assign Weiss some sort of oversight of CNN.
Two people who spoke with the Times said Ellison and his deputies are contemplating whether Weiss will be put in charge of CNN. The Times also reported that two people that have been briefed on internal discussions said Ellison has considered “pair[ing] Ms. Weiss with a more experienced TV executive who could handle the technical and financial aspects of the network.”
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to Weiss’ reps for comment, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Mark Thompson is CNN’s current editor-in-chief, with the outlet also reporting that he has not heard from Ellison or his team about what his role will look like after the merger. Thompson declined to share comment with the Times, however two sources said he told Paramount officials he would not share oversight of CNN with another executive.
Ellison’s closeness to President Donald Trump has also alarmed CNN network correspondents and employees. Trump has been a critic of the network over the years, and said in a tribute to Ted Turner, who founded CNN and died on May 6, that he hopes its “new buyers,” the Ellisons, “will be able to bring it back to its former credibility and glory.”
In April, Ellison held an event at the at the U.S. Institute of Peace on Thursday in honor of Donald Trump, before the Justice Department cleared Paramount’s deal to acquire Warner Bros.
Anonymous CBS News journalists told the Times they were “taken aback” by the dinner, and worried it could send a message of “coziness” between the newsroom and the Trump administration.
