Leadership at CNN and CBS News won't be shuffled in the massive Skydance shakeup. CEO Mark Thompson will stay atop CNN and Bari Weiss will remain in charge of CBS News under the David Ellison–run company created by the $110 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount said Monday. Both will report to Ellison and new co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, a structure meant to tamp down worries that Weiss would dominate news operations across the empire, Reuters reports. The deal is expected to close on Tuesday, reports CNBC.
Thompson told CNN staff he'll retain "the same responsibilities and prerogatives," though how CNN fits into Skydance is still being hammered out. An editorial independence board promised as part of a legal settlement is set to oversee CNN and CBS, but skeptics question how much real power the Skydance-appointed panel will wield.
- Thompson told CNN staff in a memo Monday that he has "real confidence" that the new owners "both understand and will fully support the principle and practice of the kind of independent news that CNN has always stood for," Variety reports.
- "I know many of you have had trepidations about this moment. That's understandable—indeed, as I've hinted before, I've had the odd moment or two myself," Thompson said. But on the eve of the deal, he said, he is in a "very positive frame of mind. I really do believe we'll be working alongside a team who don't just have real vision and real energy, but real values as well.
- Thompson added: "The specifics of how CNN will plug into and operate in the new company have yet to be finalized—hardly surprising given that serious discussions could only begin after Paramount's anti-trust settlement a few days ago."
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