Sep 24, 2026 · 1 hr 1 min · 14 segments
As David Ellison's Paramount Skydance clears the final hurdles in its US$110bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, C21's Jordan Pinto assesses the impact [01:30]; Royal Television Society CEO Sophie…
David Ellison's Paramount Skydance this week secured agreements to go ahead with its acquisition of Warner Bros.
Discovery, bringing it huge franchises like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Batman and more.
There have been many twists and turns in this story and at several points it looked like the deal might get mired in litigation and maybe never even happen.
But now it's going ahead and things could move very quickly indeed with ramifications for the entire international TV business.
This conversation took place yesterday, before reports emerged suggesting Paramount Skydance might approach Elon Musk for investment in the new entity, adding another layer of potential intrigue.
It's been a little while since we spoke, a while since we talked about David Ellison's Paramount Skydance and its bid to take over Warner Brothers Discovery.
The $110 billion acquisition appeared to clear its final hurdle when agreements were reached with a 12-state coalition that was looking to block the deal and another with the Writers Guild of America, the WGA.
So there's been all sorts of machinations over the past few weeks, not least with Ellison threatening that Paramount and Warner Brothers would leave Los Angeles if California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who was leading the anti-trust coalition, didn't drop his objections to the deal.
Just bring us up to speed with some of the recent background and what's been agreed this week.
What were the coalition and the WGA's concerns and how have these been addressed?
Glad to join you on another shocking week in Hollywood history, Johnny.
Probably not though as shocking as the week that Paramount stole Warner Brothers out from under Netflix's nose, but certainly shocking all the same.
Very broadly speaking, so the state coalition's lawsuit against Paramount was premised on the fact that bringing Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery together would give the combined company too much market concentration in theatrical movies, both for widely released films and top-grossing films.
And then also that the combination of the cable networks or the cable channel portfolios would equate to too much of a market share in that field as well.
And that would kind of give them disproportionate leverage in their negotiations with cable providers.
And then just more broadly as well, there was an argument that it would mean fewer buyers in the market, fewer shows and less production, essentially.
So they've agreed to spend at least $1.5 billion a year, which is up from $1.2 billion in 2025.
David Ellison's Paramount Skydance this week secured agreements to go ahead with its acquisition of Warner Bros.
Discovery, bringing it huge franchises like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Batman and more.
There have been many twists and turns in this story and at several points it looked like the deal might get mired in litigation and maybe never even happen.
But now it's going ahead and things could move very quickly indeed with ramifications for the entire international TV business.
This conversation took place yesterday, before reports emerged suggesting Paramount Skydance might approach Elon Musk for investment in the new entity, adding another layer of potential intrigue.
It's been a little while since we spoke, a while since we talked about David Ellison's Paramount Skydance and its bid to take over Warner Brothers Discovery.
The $110 billion acquisition appeared to clear its final hurdle when agreements were reached with a 12-state coalition that was looking to block the deal and another with the Writers Guild of America, the WGA.
So there's been all sorts of machinations over the past few weeks, not least with Ellison threatening that Paramount and Warner Brothers would leave Los Angeles if California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who was leading the anti-trust coalition, didn't drop his objections to the deal.
Just bring us up to speed with some of the recent background and what's been agreed this week.
What were the coalition and the WGA's concerns and how have these been addressed?
Glad to join you on another shocking week in Hollywood history, Johnny.
Probably not though as shocking as the week that Paramount stole Warner Brothers out from under Netflix's nose, but certainly shocking all the same.
Very broadly speaking, so the state coalition's lawsuit against Paramount was premised on the fact that bringing Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery together would give the combined company too much market concentration in theatrical movies, both for widely released films and top-grossing films.
And then also that the combination of the cable networks or the cable channel portfolios would equate to too much of a market share in that field as well.
And that would kind of give them disproportionate leverage in their negotiations with cable providers.
And then just more broadly as well, there was an argument that it would mean fewer buyers in the market, fewer shows and less production, essentially.
So they've agreed to spend at least $1.5 billion a year, which is up from $1.2 billion in 2025.
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