Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have completed their long-anticipated merger, with Paramount chief executive David Ellison confirming that the newly combined company will operate under the name Skydance. Ellison announced the decision on X, describing the enlarged business as “a creative-first home for bold, quality storytelling”.
The move follows the resolution of the last legal obstacle to the deal. The company entered into a consent decree to settle antitrust claims brought by a group of 12 state attorneys general, who had sued in July over concerns that the merger would concentrate too much control over news networks, cable television and the film industry. With that opposition cleared, the parties finalised the £82 billion merger on 21 September.
Ellison emerged as the top bidder for Warner Bros. Discovery following a year-long contest, securing the deal after Netflix withdrew from the race. The Skydance name reflects his interest in aviation and aerobatic “skydancing”. He is the son of Larry Ellison, co-founder and chief technology officer of Oracle and one of the wealthiest people in the world.
In his statement, Ellison said the intention was to give the combined company its own identity while allowing Paramount, Warner Bros. and their individual brands to remain prominent. “We aren’t rewriting history — we’re equipping these iconic studios with a more powerful engine,” he wrote.
A combined empire of studios, networks and streaming
It remains unclear how the merger will affect viewers who access content from Warner Bros., HBO and Paramount through services such as HBO Max and Paramount Plus. The immediate impact falls instead on the workforce of the enlarged business, now among the largest media companies in history. Much of the legal opposition had focused on staff, and the consent decree sought to safeguard employment, film production and distribution, and consumer pricing.
Corporate consolidation of this scale has historically resulted in job losses despite such protections. The Harvard Business Review estimated that up to 30% of workers are made redundant in mergers involving significant business overlap, although that frequently cited figure dates from 2017.
Concerns over media concentration
A central worry surrounding the deal is the prospect of a media monopoly. Critics have raised concerns that bringing CNN into the portfolio could prompt extensive restructuring and corporate upheaval, echoing recent difficulties at the CBS News division. There are also fears that convergence could homogenise news coverage by suppressing differing viewpoints, with CBS ratings reportedly in decline.
Jessica J. González, co-chief executive of the non-profit watchdog Free Press, warned of the broader consequences of concentration in a prepared statement. “If this trend of consolidation continues, we will be left searching dominant media outlets in vain for news and information that challenges the powerful and stands up for people who are struggling to pay monthly bills, put food on the table and engage in local civic life,” she said.
The merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery was completed on 21 September 2026, with the combined company now trading under the Skydance name.
