Paramount Skydance Closes Warner Bros. Discovery Acquisition, Renamed Skydance: CBS News and CNN Under One Owner (Supersedes June-2027 Pause)

The WBD acquisition closed on October 6, 2026 (transaction date). The SEC filing by the acquirer, now Skydance Corporation (NYSE: SKYD, formerly Paramount Skydance, PSKY), says Warner Bros. Discovery became a wholly owned subsidiary at the effective time. WBD holders received $31.00 cash per share plus a per-day “ticking” amount accruing after September 30, 2026, totalling $41,886,975.78. The company’s own release lists “CBS News and CNN” among the combined assets and targets at least $6 billion in run-rate synergies within three years.

This supersedes the 2026-07-24 canon entry’s forward-looking frame. That entry (pause by agreement to as late as June 1, 2027, or five days after a ruling) was accurate when written (announcement date 2026-07-24). It was overtaken: the 12-state coalition reached a settlement announced about September 21-22, 2026 (announcement date; AP and NPR-syndicated coverage; court approval not confirmed in this pass), and the WGA suit was also reported settled. The pause ended with the closing, roughly eight months before its outside date. A reader of the July entry alone would think the merger still pending.

CNN control. The “took control of CNN on 2026-10-06” lead is correct in substance, with one precision: control passed through the WBD closing (transaction date 2026-10-06), and the 2026-10-05 CNN item was a pre-close announcement (announcement date) that Mark Thompson stays, per AP’s summary. AP reports the settlement requires a “News Editorial Independence Board” within 180 days of closing, five active or retired journalists with 10+ years’ experience, appointed by and reporting to the combined board; Colorado and Washington did not sign off on the board’s terms (AP, secondary).

The “operational efficiencies” remark. On CNBC’s Squawk Box on 2026-10-08 (interview date), per TheWrap, Ellison said “There are absolutely operational efficiencies,” citing the $6 billion synergy target; Kreiz said “This isn’t about cost savings in this case” and called CNN and CBS News “two separate businesses.” Ellison did not confirm combining newsgathering. Sequence caveat: the “editorial independence” pledge (AP, 2026-10-06) and the efficiencies remark (2026-10-08) are separate statements; the synergy target is company-wide, and the remark does not by itself show a newsroom merger. The reading that “efficiencies” means combined newsrooms is the lead author’s inference, not reported fact.

Not verified. CNN’s 10-05 article returned HTTP 451 and the CNBC 10-08 article returned 403 to this worker; the quotes above rest on TheWrap and AP, tier 2. The settlement’s court-approval date was not found.