The Warner-Netflix deal is more corporate chaos for CNN.
Staff play the latest round of "Can I survive this?"
CNN staff got up this morning to find the ground beneath them is shaking yet again. Their Warner bosses are scheduled to discuss the latest news affecting corporate ownership today at 1.30 pm Eastern.
Those who haven’t been following the convoluted media transaction horse race, were stunned to read that Warner Bros. Discovery has accepted a $72 billion deal to be acquired for cash and stock by Netflix. That is, after it breaks itself up in two parts some time next summer. CNN won’t be going with them. After all, Netflix has said it’s not in the “truth to power,” business, nor does it want the cable channels it helped destroy. Warner’s cable business will be spun-off and run by its former chief financial officer, Gunnar Wiedenfels, an executive who presided over the slashing of free lunch during meetings.
For CNN executives it’s more fill in the blank chaos from corporate. “We’re here today to tell you about… a spin-take-over-separation-newowner-we fired your old boss.” When most staff tune in to the video call today they are simply wondering, “Can I survive this?” Paramount which just bought CBS News shed 1,600 workers and NBC News axed 150 this fall.
To be sure, CNN has been through an incredible amount of change for any organization to digest. Time Warner, under chief executive Jeff Bewkes, sold the company to AT&T in 2016, and then went to court when the Trump Justice Department blocked the merger which finally closed in 2018. AT&T hired the old Hulu boss Jason Kilar, who sacked the veteran CNN chief Jeff Zucker for having an office romance. Then AT&T, realizing they were poor stewards of the entertainment business, flipped it to Discovery Communications chief David Zaslav in 2022, who replaced Kilar, shut down the CNN streaming service, CNN+, hired a new CNN boss Chris Licht, who flamed out after a gym workout with The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta. Licht was replaced by former NYT chief Mark Thompson who revived the subscription streaming plan (after giving the CNN feed away for free as part of HBOMax-Max-HBOMax.) Now, Zaslav’s new cable unit will be called, “Discovery Global,” and could be consolidated by any number of parties including Comcast’s own cable spin-off Versant or maybe Paramount will bid on it with the Saudis. Are you still following? Imagine having a new corporate owner every time you signed a three year employment agreement.
“People across WBD have navigated extraordinary change over the last three years, while building a company with real creative, journalistic and commercial strength,” today’s memo reads. A new chief integration officer is being hired to oversee the merger and the spin-off but questions remain about where some assets including TNT Sports will go.
And there will be challengers to Warner’s plan. CNBC reported Paramount’s bid was $30 per share, and they seem convinced Trump won’t let their rivals offer gain approval. Here’s former Warner boss Jason Kilar on X posting about how Netflix and Warner reduces competition in Hollywood. Netflix shares are also down in early trading.
“Even in an industry that lives on breaking news, it is jarring to literally wake up to discover you have a new boss (or no job at all),” said one CNN staffer. “But solidarity becomes sanity and mourning with colleagues is perhaps the most that any journalist can hope for in this new “bigger is better,” environment.”
Former CNNer David Clinch posted a clip of some hamsters running in circles."Here is video of CNN on the flywheel.” In another post he wrote, “All this is bringing back bad memories of AOL-Time Warner for those of us that lived through it.”
You know which cable network has had the same owner since it was launched in 1996? Fox News.
Some further reading this morning:
Netflix shares are falling on news of the Warner merger.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/05/netflix-shares-are-falling-on-warner-bros-tie-up-what-the-deal-means-for-the-stock.html
Paramount says DOJ is unlikely to close Netflix /Warner deal.
https://deadline.com/2025/12/paramount-says-netflix-warner-bros-deal-would-likely-never-close-1236636521/
CNN’s Brian Stelter on anti-trust challengers to deal.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/media/netflix-deal-warner-bros
Comcast’s Versant shares start trading in January
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251203596447/en/Comcasts-Board-Approves-Separation-of-Versant-Media-Group-Inc.
*Drop a news tip or an opinion on media industry turbulence. I’m at Claireatki@me.com.