Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, 2026, closing a deal with a total enterprise value above $110 billion. The Paramount Warner Bros deal combines three movie studios and two streaming platforms. It also brings together two news networks and a lineup of cable channels under one company. Axios confirmed the closing on Tuesday. The combined firm now holds Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Skydance as studios, Paramount+ and HBO Max as streaming platforms, and CNN and CBS as news networks.
Inside the Paramount Warner Bros deal
The merged company controls a broad set of media assets. It owns three movie studios: Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Skydance. It runs two streaming platforms, Paramount+ and HBO Max, which the company plans to merge into a single service. It controls two news networks, CNN and CBS. It also owns a group of cable channels, including MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, TBS, TNT, Food Network, and Discovery.
David Ellison leads the combined company as CEO. His father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, supplied billions of dollars in equity financing to help fund the acquisition. The scale of that backing underlines how much capital a media merger of this size now requires.
The Media Merger Survives a Regulatory Fight
The deal faced scrutiny from regulators and state officials before it closed. The FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, approved requests that let the merger exceed standard foreign ownership limits. Twelve Democratic state attorneys general sued to block the deal. The parties settled that lawsuit in September 2026, clearing a major legal obstacle.
Those approvals let the companies finalize the transaction on October 6, 2026, as Axios reported. The settlement ended a legal fight that had run alongside the FCC review for months.
How Skydance Financed the Acquisition
Skydance raised $52 billion in new debt to help pay for the deal. The company also assumed Warner Bros. Discovery’s existing $87.5 billion in liabilities.
The numbers shifted since the companies first signed their merger agreement in February 2026. At signing, Paramount Skydance agreed to pay $31 per share for Warner Bros. Discovery, valuing the company at roughly $77 billion, according to NBC News. Total enterprise value, including debt, already exceeded $110 billion at that point. The February agreement included a $7 billion reverse termination fee if regulators blocked the deal. Paramount Skydance also collected a separate $2.8 billion termination fee from Netflix. Netflix had competed as a rival bidder for Warner Bros. Discovery before that agreement.
David Ellison said in February that bringing together the studios, streaming platforms, and talent would “create even greater value.” Then-WBD CEO David Zaslav said the deal “maximizes the value of our iconic assets and our century-old studio while delivering as much certainty as possible for our investors.” Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets at signing included the Warner Bros. film studio, HBO Max, CNN, and intellectual property such as Batman and “Casablanca.”
Investors are also watching other big financial news this month, including the start of Wall Street’s earnings season for major banks.
Streaming Consolidation Changes What Viewers Get
The combined company plans to merge Paramount+ and HBO Max into a single streaming service. That change will reduce the number of major streaming platforms available to viewers worldwide.
The merger is likely to bring job cuts across the creative industry. The combined company plans to trim overlapping roles across three studios, two news networks, and several cable channels. Streaming consolidation of this scale typically produces that kind of overlap.
What This Means Going Forward
The combined company must still carry out the integration it promised. Paramount+ and HBO Max will combine into one platform, though the companies have not set a date for that change.
The settlement with the twelve state attorneys general closed one legal front, but the operational work continues. CNN, CBS, and the cable channel lineup still need to consolidate under one corporate structure.
The closing also marks a point in the wider streaming consolidation trend. That trend follows the earlier Netflix bidding effort. Paramount Skydance collected a $2.8 billion termination payment from Netflix after that bid ended.
Common Questions About the Paramount-Warner Deal
When did the Paramount Warner Bros deal close?
The deal closed on October 6, 2026, a Tuesday, according to Axios.
What does the combined company own?
It owns three movie studios: Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Skydance. It runs two streaming platforms, Paramount+ and HBO Max, which will merge into one service. It also owns two news networks, CNN and CBS, plus cable channels including MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, TBS, TNT, Food Network, and Discovery.
Who leads the combined company?
David Ellison serves as CEO of the combined Skydance entity. His father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, provided billions of dollars in equity financing for the acquisition.
What regulatory hurdles did the deal clear?
The FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, approved requests allowing the deal to exceed foreign ownership limits. Twelve Democratic state attorneys general sued to block the deal, and that case settled in September 2026.
How much debt did Skydance take on?
Skydance raised $52 billion in new debt and assumed Warner Bros. Discovery’s existing $87.5 billion in liabilities.
How did the deal terms change since the original February 2026 agreement?
At signing, Paramount Skydance agreed to pay $31 per share, valuing Warner Bros. Discovery at roughly $77 billion, with total enterprise value exceeding $110 billion. That agreement included a $7 billion reverse termination fee and a separate $2.8 billion fee Paramount Skydance collected from Netflix.
Tamara News will continue following developments inside the newly combined company. Readers tracking other major deals this month can also read our coverage of Novartis’s drug deal with China’s Abogen Biosciences. That deal is reshaping its own industry too.