David Ellison and Skydance co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said Thursday that CNN and CBS News will remain separate businesses with independent editorial operations, even as they left open the possibility of operational efficiencies between the two news organizations.
Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Kreiz rejected the idea that combining newsgathering would be a cost-cutting move. “This isn’t about cost savings in this case,” he said. “We look to keep the businesses run in parallel with independent editorial operation.” He called CNN and CBS News “two separate businesses.”
Skydance CEO David Ellison: We can compete with anybody coming out of Silicon Valley https://t.co/vXuisl1Q5s
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Host David Faber pressed on why the outlets would keep separate newsgathering rather than consolidate overlapping work. Ellison said “there are absolutely operational efficiencies,” citing Skydance’s broader $6 billion synergy target, but he did not say whether any CNN and CBS News operations would be combined.
Asked about keeping Mark Thompson as CNN’s chairman and CEO, Ellison said Thompson had “done a phenomenal job” and that the company wanted stability “given everything everyone’s been through.” He added, “We believe in editorial independence across the news organizations.”
Faber also asked whether CNN could see editorial changes similar to those at CBS News under editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. “Right now, I’d say, you have to talk to Mark. Corporate stays out of editorial,” Ellison replied, saying the issue was a conversation for Thompson and Weiss and that the company would support them.
The comments followed remarks Weiss made to her newsroom two days earlier: “The truth is, there is a lot that we still don’t know … What we can tell you right now is that nothing is going to change. This is a process that’s going to unfold over time.” At a Skydance press conference Tuesday, Ellison pledged that CNN and CBS News would remain “completely editorially independent” and expressed support for both Thompson and Weiss.