Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ: PSKY) is reportedly preparing a majority-cash bid for all of Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD), people familiar told the Wall Street Journal.
The contemplated offer would cover Warner’s entire portfolio (film studio, streaming service, cable networks including CNN, TBS, and TNT), marking a bid to combine two legacy studios with streaming platforms Paramount+ and Warner’s service.
Warner’s shares jumped nearly 30% Thursday while Paramount gained about 7% on the report.
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The timing aims to pre-empt Warner’s restructuring into two operating units (studios/streaming and cable), a move disclosed earlier this year, which could otherwise invite competing bids from deep-pocketed tech firms such as Amazon (which owns Amazon Prime) or Apple (which owns Apple TV+).
Regulators are expected to scrutinize the scales of the combination’s studio, streaming, and cable news overlap.
On the buyer side, Skydance closed its merger with Paramount in August 2025. That tie-up, led by CEO David Ellison and backed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, set the financial and strategic base for this next consolidation step.
Currently, the recently merged Paramount Skydance owns CBS (plus CBS News and CBS Sports), cable brands Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, CMT, TV Land, Smithsonian Channel, VH1, and Pop TV, and studios including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television Studios, CBS Studios, and Skydance Animation.
Sen. Chris Murphy criticized prior Skydance-Paramount newsroom decisions and asked “what [they] will do to get Trump’s approval for the purchase of CNN,” while Sen. Bernie Sanders warned that “oligarch control over media is getting even worse.”
Warner’s board must receive and evaluate any formal offer, while regulators would determine review path and scope if a deal is announced. However, Warner’s planned split provides an alternative path that could still change the asset mix on the table.
This is not the first time Warner was rumored to be merging with Paramount. In December 2023, multiple outlets reported that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met then-Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish in New York to discuss a possible tie-up, an early-stage conversation that ultimately did not produce a transaction.
Information for this story was found via Wall Street Journal and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
