On 8 December 2025 media conglomerate Paramount Skydance launched a $108.4B hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery (USA Today). Paramount Skydance was founded by David Ellison with assistance from his father Larry Ellison. Both are avid pilots and David has acted in and produced a number of movies. Ellison was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for the movie Top Gun: Maverick. Ellison is the Chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance.
There are 6 mega corporations that control 90% of the media consumed in the United States (Motley Fool). Paramount and Warner Bros are two of them. Is it really a good idea to turn the 6 into 5? The political and social views of CEOs can affect the type of programming we see. The views beamed into people’s minds through the TV screen can change if a mega corporation is taken over in the future just as a monarchy can change with a new king. Setting up conglomerates to enjoy complete social control is counter to democratic and Western principles. One agreeing with the political views of current CEOs doesn’t mean one will agree with the next.
Honestly the major TV news networks tend to project one of two incomplete narratives that are designed to be consumed at the simplest cerebral levels. This is disturbing particularly after the de-funding of NPR and PBS. There are also attempts to rewrite history; demonizing Abraham Lincoln (4dforum), telling kids in Florida slavery was beneficial to black people (NBC News), promoting the Nakbah Narrative (WI News) and upselling Karl Marx (4dforum) are examples.
Ellison sought to hinder a merger of Netflix and Warner Bros. The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2025 that Ellison had given assurances to President Donald Trump that if Paramount were allowed to buy Warner, he would make sweeping changes to CNN, the news channel that Trump has frequently criticized. Ellison worked with three Middle-Eastern sovereign wealth funds and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to finance a competing bid for Warner. Wikipedia
Regulators should move to block this takeover. Mega media companies should be broken up not allowed to grow larger. Society will benefit from more and diverse social commentaries and reports on politics, not fewer.