The Bidder Willing to Take CNN May Be Tie-Breaker

Warner Bros. Discovery is poised to select the full-company takeover offer from Paramount Global and Skydance Media over competing partial bids from Netflix and Comcast, primarily because Paramount is the only suitor willing and politically able to absorb the controversial and money-losing CNN, sources close to the talks say.

Bids were due last Thursday, with WBD’s board expected to pick a winner before year-end. 

The Paramount-Skydance offer — approximately $23.50 per share, 80% cash — would fold the entire company, including CNN, into a new entity that merges CNN with CBS News. That combination creates instant scale in television news but also carries heavy regulatory risk — risk that insiders believe can be neutralized by Skydance CEO David Ellison’s direct ties to President Trump and the $16 million Paramount recently pledged by Paramount to Trump’s presidential library fund.

Netflix and Comcast, by contrast, have submitted bids only for Warner’s film and TV studios plus the HBO Max streaming service, explicitly excluding the cable networks and CNN. Both companies view CNN’s steep ratings decline (down 30% since the 2024 election), $1 billion-plus in annual operating losses, and reputation for partisan coverage as fatal antitrust and political poison. 

Selling only the “clean” assets would leave WBD holding CNN in its planned April 2026 spin-off of linear cable channels — a prospect CEO David Zaslav is desperate to avoid amid $40 billion in debt.

Key differences at a glance:

• Paramount/Skydance: Full company, keeps and merges CNN with CBS; Trump-friendly politics may ease DOJ approval.
• Netflix: Studios + streaming only; would likely kill or spin off CNN; faces subscriber-concentration scrutiny.
• Comcast: Studios + streaming only; excluded from bid entirely; Trump has repeatedly attacked “Concast” over MSNBC.

With CNN functioning as the deal’s biggest obstacle and potential tie-breaker, multiple advisors now expect WBD to lean toward Paramount-Skydance unless Netflix or Comcast dramatically sweetens a partial offer in the next round — a scenario considered unlikely given the political and regulatory headwinds both would face.