David Ellison says the legal fight over the Warner Bros. Discovery merger is political, not about market share.
WASHINGTON: Paramount CEO David Ellison said Tuesday that the legal battle over his proposed multibillion-dollar takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery was fuelled by politics rather than concerns over market share.
His remarks in an opinion piece published in The New York Times came as a federal judge set a March 2027 trial date for antitrust challenges to the megamerger. Paramount Skydance agreed late last month to delay its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery to June 2027. The US lawsuit seeking to block the deal is moving forward.
If the merger closes, the combined company would reshape the entertainment and media industry and deliver a major win to the Ellison family, close allies of US President Donald Trump.
In a combative op-ed, Ellison argued the fight “is not really about market share.”
“The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN. There has been speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions,” he wrote.
In their complaint, 12 US states claim the combined company would control roughly 27% of wide-release theatrical film distribution and a similar percentage of basic cable channel licensing. The deal would include CNN, one of the largest US cable news networks and a frequent target of Trump’s insults and attacks over coverage critical of his administration.
The Trump administration approved the blockbuster deal on June 12 without demanding a single change, clearing the way for one of the largest media mergers in years.
Ellison argued he held views across the political spectrum “just like most Americans.”
“When it comes to our news operations, I do not aspire to lead these companies to bend their newsrooms to my views,” he said. “I believe that news should be based on facts and truth.”
Ellison’s Skydance acquired CBS News in mid-2025. In the same period, the major US broadcaster reached a $16 million settlement with Trump over coverage of presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Shortly after CBS became a part of Paramount Skydance, the company brought in Bari Weiss, a longstanding critic of progressive politics, to lead its news division. Many CBS News journalists quit following Weiss’s appointment, alleging curbs on their editorial independence.
David Ellison is the son of Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, who Forbes says has a net worth of more than $185 billion, making him the seventh richest person in the world.
