"Senior White House officials have discussed internally their preference for Paramount Skydance to acquire Warner Bros Discovery in recent weeks, and one official has discussed potential programming changes at CNN with Larry Ellison, the largest shareholder of Paramount. The discussions, according to people familiar with the matter, come as Paramount portrays itself as the best bid for Warner Bros Discovery, after it announced last month it was open to offers, because it would have an easier time getting through regulatory review."
"Ellison often speaks to connections at the White House but, in at least one of the calls, engaged in a dialogue about possibly axing some of the CNN hosts whom Donald Trump is said to loathe, including Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar, the people said. The conversation also touched on floating names to replace Burnett and the possibility of running CBS assets like its flagship 60 Minutes program on CNN air - proposals that have animated the White House, the people said."
Senior White House officials prefer Paramount-Skydance, backed by Larry Ellison, as the buyer for Warner Bros. Discovery. Ellison recently financed his son David Ellison’s acquisition of Paramount and maintains strong White House connections. Paramount positions itself as the most likely bidder to clear regulatory review and has been actively seeking offers. Conversations between officials and Ellison included potential programming changes at CNN, including possibly removing hosts Donald Trump reportedly dislikes and introducing CBS content such as 60 Minutes. The talks signal potential political influence over editorial and programming decisions at major news outlets.
Read at Nieman Lab
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]