David Ellison is reportedly already talking about what he’d do to CNN—before he even owns the company.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Paramount Skydance CEO told Trump administration officials during a recent Washington visit that he’d make “sweeping changes” at CNN if he manages to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the network’s parent. The subtext isn’t subtle: CNN is a longtime Trump target, and Trump has told confidants he wants new ownership and programming changes, the Journal reported.
Ellison’s comments come amid a fast-moving takeover scramble involving Warner Bros. Discovery. After the company accepted an offer from Netflix, Ellison said Paramount would pursue a hostile bid directly to shareholders.
“WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company,” Ellison said in a statement announcing the move. He argued that the competing proposal would leave shareholders exposed to uncertainty around the company’s linear cable networks business and face a more difficult regulatory path.
Ellison’s father, Oracle co-founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison, called President Donald Trump after the announcement that Warner Bros. had accepted the Netflix deal to argue that “the transaction would hurt competition,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
“Trump has told people close to him that he wants new ownership of CNN as well as changes to CNN programming,” added the Journal story.
Trump, for his part, has never been shy about where he thinks CNN belongs on the media food chain. Earlier this year, he dismissed the network as “scum” in remarks on the White House lawn.
