Paramount-WBD merger Skydance announces CNN head Mark Thompson's retention

(San Francisco = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kwon Young-jeon = Skydance, an integrated media company launched through the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), announced that Mark Thompson, the head of CNN broadcasting, will be retained.

David Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance Group, officially announced the personnel changes to Skydance's top management, including the following, on the 5th (local time).

In the news division, CNN chairman and news director Mark Thompson and CBS News news director Barry Weiss were retained.

Both will report to CEO Ellison and newly appointed co-CEO Enon Kreitz.

Reuters said that with this reporting system, concerns that Director Weiss, who is considered conservative, would control Skydance's entire news operation have been resolved.

Director Thompson said in a message to CNN employees that day, "I will lead the organization with the same responsibility and authority as before," and added, "I am confident that the new management will fully support the principles of independent news that CNN has always maintained."

CEO Ellison, who is also the son of Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison, who is known to be a close friend of President Donald Trump, is considered an active supporter of the second Trump administration.

Accordingly, concerns have been raised that Skydance may try to change its direction after acquiring CNN, which has continued to report critically on the Trump administration.

Skydance also agreed to establish a five-member independent editorial board to oversee CNN and CBS News, following an agreement with a union of 12 U.S. states and the Hollywood Writers Guild.

However, media experts have expressed skepticism about how much power this committee will actually have.

Skydance appoints and pays the committee members, but the agreement does not include the committee's explicit investigative authority, and it is unclear whether the decisions will be binding.

On this day, Skydance also announced the company's top (C-level) executives and department heads.

CEO Ellison said, “I am proud to introduce the Skydance team, which embodies the aspirations of this historic merger,” adding, “Paramount and Warner Bros. will join forces to create a creativity-first hub with the scale, imagination, and technology to define entertainment for a generation.”