Warner Bros. Discovery Shareholders Approve $81 Billion Paramount Skydance Takeover Deal
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders on Thursday approved Paramount Skydance's roughly $81 billion equity takeover, a vote that advances a deal valued at nearly $111 billion when debt is included.
Shareholders accepted Paramount's $31 per share offer, clearing a major shareholder hurdle and moving the transaction into intensive regulatory review. Paramount Skydance would combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single streaming platform while President and CEO David Ellison has pledged a 45-day theatrical window and a target of about 30 theatrical releases a year. The vote also carries news ownership questions because Paramount Skydance is the parent of CBS News, and shareholders cast a nonbinding majority vote against Warner CEO David Zaslav's proposed executive compensation.
The deal is the product of a yearslong consolidation wave. Warner Bros. Discovery was created in 2022 by merging WarnerMedia and Discovery amid heavy debt. Paramount merged with Skydance in 2024. Warner put its studios and streaming assets up for auction in late 2025. Netflix briefly offered $72 billion for the studios, but a subsequent hostile bid from Paramount Skydance pushed the price higher and led Netflix to withdraw, producing a definitive agreement reported at about $111 billion in February.
Coverage of the vote has shifted. Early reporting highlighted Ellison's public promises to preserve studio brands and increase production and framed the tie-up as a way to compete with Netflix and Disney. Later stories focused on opposition from thousands of industry workers warning of job losses, a Senate hearing that raised concerns about concentrated media control, and scrutiny of the Ellison family's political relationships raised by outlets such as MS NOW.
Regulatory hurdles remain large. The Department of Justice has issued subpoenas as part of its antitrust review, and state attorneys general and lawmakers are demanding close scrutiny. Financing for the acquisition includes large investments from Gulf partners that do not take governance rights, and the merger would shrink the number of major Hollywood studios from five to four while following an industry that lost roughly 41,000 jobs from 2022 to 2024.
📊 Relevant Data
The merger would reduce the number of major Hollywood studios from five (Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Sony, and Paramount) to four.
What are the current major studios in Hollywood? — Britannica
From 2022 to 2024, the Hollywood industry lost approximately 41,000 jobs, reflecting broader consolidation trends.
The Oscars make it clear: Hollywood is in a death spiral — Fortune
The U.S. Department of Justice has issued subpoenas in its antitrust review of the merger, seeking information on its effects on studio output, content rights, and competition among streaming services.
US sends subpoenas in Warner-Paramount antitrust review as probe picks up steam — Reuters
📌 Key Facts
- Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approved Paramount Skydance’s takeover at $31 per share — an $81 billion equity deal valued at nearly $111 billion including assumed debt.
- Multiple outlets reported the shareholder vote (described as a preliminary vote by some) as clearing a key hurdle toward closing the deal.
- The transaction now moves to regulatory review and other closing steps, and lawmakers and state attorneys general are calling for heightened scrutiny over media concentration and undisclosed conflicts of interest.
- Paramount Skydance is the parent company of CBS News, a point repeatedly flagged by outlets as creating potential ownership and conflict-of-interest concerns for the news organization.
- The deal followed a prior bidding sequence in which Warner initially backed a roughly $72 billion Netflix bid for the studio/streaming assets before Netflix withdrew and Paramount raised its offer.
- Industry groups and thousands of workers opposed the merger, warning it could lead to job losses and harmful consolidation; a Senate hearing also raised alarms about concentrated control of news and entertainment (Sen. Cory Booker was cited).
- Paramount Skydance plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single streaming service while keeping HBO’s production identity distinct, and would add Discovery+, Pluto TV and BET+ to its streaming portfolio; David Ellison has pledged to keep the studios as stand‑alone entities, target more than 30 theatrical releases a year, and maintain a 45‑day exclusive theatrical window.
- Reporting included U.S. streaming market-share context (approx. HBO Max 12%, Paramount+ 3% in Q1 versus Prime Video 17%, Netflix 19%, and about 27% combined for Disney/Hulu) and noted critics’ warnings that the consolidation could reduce consumer choices and lead to higher subscription prices.
📰 Source Timeline (6)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Article details that Paramount Skydance plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single streaming platform, while keeping HBO's production identity distinct.
- Provides U.S. streaming market share figures: HBO Max at about 12% and Paramount+ at about 3% of on-demand subscriptions in Q1, versus 17% for Prime Video, 19% for Netflix, and about 27% combined for Disney and Hulu.
- Notes that critics and analysts warn the consolidation will reduce consumer streaming choices and could lead to higher subscription prices despite larger content libraries.
- Confirms Paramount would also acquire Discovery+ and already controls Pluto TV and BET+, further expanding its streaming portfolio.
- States Ellison's public pledge to keep Paramount and Warner Bros. as stand-alone studios and to target more than 30 theatrical releases a year with a 45-day exclusive cinema window.
- CBS reiterates that Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have now formally approved Paramount Skydance's roughly $81 billion acquisition.
- The segment frames the vote as clearing a key hurdle and focuses on what happens next, including regulatory review and deal-closing steps, though it does not add new hard numbers beyond the $81 billion valuation.
- CBS reminds viewers that Paramount Skydance is the parent company of CBS News, underscoring ownership and potential conflict-of-interest concerns.
- Warner Bros. shareholders overwhelmingly approved Paramount Skydance's $81 billion offer at $31 per share in a preliminary vote Thursday.
- The article explicitly ties regulatory approval to the Trump administration and highlights concerns about the Ellison family's close relationship with President Trump while gaining control of CNN.
- It reports that the Trump administration previously approved the Ellison family's acquisition of Paramount Global after CBS agreed to pay $16 million to settle Trump's $20 billion lawsuit over a '60 Minutes' Kamala Harris interview.
- It adds that after that deal, Bari Weiss, via her Free Press acquisition, was installed as editor-in-chief at CBS News and pulled a planned '60 Minutes' segment on abuse inside an El Salvador megaprison holding Venezuelan migrants deported from the U.S.
- Lawmakers and state attorneys general are already calling for heightened scrutiny of 'undisclosed conflicts of interest' around this new merger.
- The piece notes that Weiss, David Ellison and other Paramount executives were scheduled to host Trump at a dinner at the Institute of Peace in Washington on the same day as the Warner shareholder vote.
- CBS segment confirms that Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have formally voted to approve the Paramount Skydance merger.
- The report reiterates that Paramount Skydance is the parent of CBS News, underscoring ownership implications for the outlet itself.
- Shareholders approved selling Warner Bros. Discovery to Paramount for $31 per share in an $81 billion equity deal valued at nearly $111 billion including debt.
- Article details prior bidding war in which Warner initially backed a $72 billion Netflix studio and streaming bid before Paramount raised its offer and Netflix withdrew.
- Story notes extensive opposition from thousands of industry workers warning of job losses and consolidation, plus a Senate 'spotlight' hearing where Sen. Cory Booker warned about concentrated control of news and entertainment.
- Paramount CEO David Ellison has pledged a 45-day theatrical window and a goal of 30 films a year across the combined studios, promising HBO Max and Paramount+ may be combined while the studios stay stand-alone.