CNN ‘Unnerved’ After Warner Bros. Discovery Signals It’s for Sale and Pro-Trump, Pro-Israel Owner of CBS Emerges as Likely Buyer

Fear is growing among liberals and opponents of President Trump about the future of CNN as its corporate parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, says it is open to a potential sale of some or all of its properties, which could lead to dramatic changes at the beleaguered news network. Earlier this year, staffers at CNN braced for dark days as WBD announced plans to spin off its declining cable properties from its lucrative streaming and studio business, which was expected to lead to harsh cuts at CNN. However, staffers and liberal commentators received what they may consider worse news: Skydance’s CEO, David Ellison — the son of the world’s second-richest man, Larry Ellison, a strong supporter of Israel and Mr. Trump — wants to buy WBD. WBD reportedly recently rejected a “lowball” offer from the younger Mr. Ellison — who is backed by his father’s fortune — to buy the company. But the board seems to have decided that a sale of some kind is the most likely outcome, as the company grapples with how to manage its struggling cable businesses. In a statement on Tuesday, WBD said its board of directors “initiated a review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value, in light of unsolicited interest the company has received from multiple parties for both the entire company and Warner Bros.”Mr. Ellison’s Skydance media company — producer of the “Mission Impossible” movies — recently closed on its hard-fought acquisition of Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS. Mr. Ellison promptly installed the pro-Israel Bari Weiss as the editor in chief of CBS News, leaving the dominant media aghast. In the run-up to his purchase of Paramount, which required Trump administration approval, Skydance assured the FCC in writing that CBS News — which has been dogged in the last year by a torrent of controversies involving alleged anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, and anti-Israel bias — would engage in balanced, fair coverage.But according to CNBC, Mr. Ellison is not the only party interested in an acquisition. The outlet also reported that NBC News’s corporate parent, Comcast, and Netflix are among the parties that have expressed interest in acquiring some portion of WBD. However, it said it is “unclear how serious” the “potential offers” from the other parties are. If Mr. Ellison reaches a deal to acquire WBD, it would likely require government approval. But a former Democratic operative, Dan Turrentine, predicted on “The Morning Meeting” podcast that the approval process would happen very quickly.“I’ll put a fiver on Skydance makes that happen. And the Trump administration will love that CNN will come under the thumb of Bari Weiss and approve it right away,” Mr. Turrentine said. The prospect of Mr. Ellison buying CNN has sparked concerns about the future of the network. A left-wing media journalist, Oliver Darcy, reported that CNN staffers have been “unnerved” by the idea. Specifically, they have expressed concern that CNN might be merged with CBS News and that they would have to report to Ms. Weiss, whose groundbreaking Free Press publication has bedeviled the establishment with its mischievous provocations regarding “woke” practices at elite institutions.Liberal commentators have also issued dire predictions about the future of CNN. A former “CBS Evening News” host, Dan Rather, 93, told the Hollywood Reporter that he does not want to be “unfair to the Ellisons,” but he believes acquiring WBD would “change CNN forever” and could be “another very serious wound to CBS News.” “It’s pretty hard to be optimistic about the possibilities of the Ellisons buying CNN,” Mr. Rather said. A liberal author, Harvey Cohen, wrote on X, “David Ellison & his dad Larry are billionaire Trumpers who’ve already installed unqualified hard-right Bari Weiss as head of CBS News, which they recently took control of. If this @CNN deal goes thru, I doubt the Ellisons will allow @CNN’s middle of the road coverage to continue.”Another user wrote about the potential acquisition: “CNN included. David Ellison bidding? Between him and his dad they’ll control most of what they want us to know.”A liberal commentator, Tara McGowan, wrote on X, “If you thought what Rupert Murdoch built at Fox News was dangerous (and it was), you should really get acquainted with Larry and David Ellison.”The concerns about Mr. Ellison buying CNN come as he is working to carry through on his promise to purge CBS News of what he reportedly views as left-wing, anti-Israel bias. After the Paramount deal closed, its new management hired a former president of the conservative Hudson Institute, Kenneth Weinstein, a strong supporter of Israel, to serve as an ombudsman and evaluate complaints of bias at the network and report them to Paramount’s president, Jeff Shell. Mr. Ellison also bought the Free Press as part of his hiring of Ms. Weiss. The hiring of Mr. Weinstein and Ms. Weiss sparked liberal fears that Mr. Ellison is seeking to steer reliably liberal CBS News to the right.For his part, Mr. Ellison told reporters that he wants to create a news outlet that center-right Americans feel they can watch. Despite the new hires and predictions that the new management would dramatically reshape the voice of CBS News, the staff appears to be acting as though it is business as usual. On Sunday, “60 Minutes,” which is known for ignoring or bulldozing over CBS News management, kicked off its episode with an interview of Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who helped negotiate the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.Later in the show, the newsmagazine program returned to its critical coverage of the Trump administration as correspondent Scott Pelley interviewed a lawyer who was fired by the Department of Justice, Erez Reuveni, who suggested the administration officials intentionally ignored court orders. In a different segment, journalist Anderson Cooper interviewed artist Amy Sherald, who made headlines in July after she withdrew a planned show at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery due to concerns that the museum would remove her depictions of a transgender Statue of Liberty.Ms. Sherald told “60 Minutes” that there were “conversations about the work being censored.”“The show was ‘American Sublime.’ It was a whole narrative. And a trans woman is a part of that narrative for me. Any kind of contextualization around the work would have been unacceptable, and it would’ve deviated from how the work was originally conceived. And because of that, I felt like my only choice was to pull out,” she said.While it remains unclear whether the Ellisons will make another bid for WBD, and whether it will be successful, Senator Elizabeth Warren posted on X in September that the hypothetical merger “must be blocked” because it would represent a “dangerous concentration of power.”Skydance did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. WBD also did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment.

CNN ‘Unnerved’ After Warner Bros. Discovery Signals It’s for Sale and Pro-Trump, Pro-Israel Owner of CBS Emerges as Likely Buyer

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