{"id":27549,"date":"2026-08-04T17:41:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T12:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=27549"},"modified":"2026-08-04T17:41:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T12:41:32","slug":"david-ellison-says-cnn-is-root-cause-of-merger-battle-vows-to-play-it-down-the-middle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=27549","title":{"rendered":"David Ellison Says CNN Is Root Cause Of Merger Battle, Vows To Play It &#8220;Down The Middle&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tIn a guest essay for <em>The New York Times<\/em> on Tuesday, <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/paramount\/\" id=\"auto-tag_paramount\" data-tag=\"paramount\">Paramount<\/a> CEO <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/david-ellison\/\" id=\"auto-tag_david-ellison\" data-tag=\"david-ellison\">David Ellison<\/a> says <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/cnn\/\" id=\"auto-tag_cnn\" data-tag=\"cnn\">CNN<\/a> is at the root of opposition to the company\u2019s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tConcerns about market share are not the main driver of antitrust lawsuits filed by 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America, Ellison contends. \u201cI believe a plainer worry sits beneath the briefs and the news releases: the news,\u201d he writes. \u201cThe issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner\u2019s CNN. There has been speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe proposed $110 billion merger is on hold pending the outcome of the lawsuit. A judge is expected to set a trial date for later this year or early in 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/04\/opinion\/david-ellison-paramount-warner-deal.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Times <\/em>essay<\/a> comes as Paramount is preparing to report second-quarter earnings after the close of trading. WBD will report on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tAs to his anticipated stewardship of CNN, Ellison writes, \u201cI can\u2019t give anyone a view into my heart and mind, but I can share this: I have regularly voted for candidates of both parties; I hold some views that would be called conservative and others that would be called liberal, just like most Americans; and when it comes to our news operations, I do not aspire to lead these companies to bend their newsrooms to my views. I believe that news should be based on facts and truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tLast year, Ellison\u2019s Skydance completed a merger with Paramount Global, giving the executive control of <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/cbs-news\/\" id=\"auto-tag_cbs-news\" data-tag=\"cbs-news\">CBS News<\/a>. That aspect of Paramount has created non-stop controversy, particularly after Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit by the Trump administration over the editing and promotion of a 60 Minutes interview, with the suit widely viewed as frivolous. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tCBS News and CNN are \u201chere to tell it straight down the middle,\u201d Ellison asserted in the essay. \u201cThat requires newsrooms that reflect the whole world, not one side of it. And it requires independence. Our journalists will continue to answer to the facts and to all the people they serve \u2013 not to any party or cause.\u00a0\u201c<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a guest essay for The New York Times on Tuesday, Paramount CEO David Ellison says CNN is at the root of opposition to the company\u2019s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. Concerns about market share are not the main driver of antitrust lawsuits filed by 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/David-Ellison-Paramount.jpg?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}