Just a short drive up the road from us, something’s shifting in Hollywood. Its implications are massive.

You might have heard that streaming giants Paramount Skydance and Netflix were in a bidding competition to buy Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). On Thursday, February 26, Netflix dropped out of the bidding process. The Warner Bros. Discovery board approved the deal on Friday, February 27, so Paramount is expected to acquire WBD by September 2026.

I first heard about the impending merge from my mom, who expressed how big of a deal this was. But I wasn’t sure what the concrete impacts would be — until I learned what Paramount will be in control of.

They will acquire CBS News and CNN, HBO Max, Cartoon Network, and more assets — including entertainment properties like DC Studios, Game of Thrones, the Lord of the Rings films, the Harry Potter series that’s set to premiere next year, the Monsterverse. These are only a few parts of Paramount’s future arsenal.

The ropes behind some of your favorite news sources, shows, and movies are being transferred to new hands. So who runs Paramount? What do they want? And what’s going to happen to the consumers — and workers — whose sources of information hang in the balance?

Here’s what Paramount Skydance is going to get

Paramount’s studios and Warner Bros. Television’s production units have more than 100 series currently airing or about to air, shares the Hollywood Reporter. Another 25 to 30 series are in development, or have received the green light for future dates. If this merge goes through, it will outpace the volume of any other studio.

“I think it could topple other [streaming services], like Netflix,” shares Nico Rigoli ‘26. He and David Warren ‘26 are the co-leaders of Cathedral’s Film Club. Netflix has already declined in popularity recently, with their decision to end family planning and raise prices. “The combination [of companies]… would definitely overshadow Netflix and the less popular ones.”

Warner Bros.’s market value is five times that of Paramount’s, according to NPR. And they have media spread across popular streaming services. You can see why Paramount wants it in their arsenal.

David Ellison, Paramount’s chairman and CEO, is largely relying on the financial support of his father, Larry Ellison. Larry Ellison is a co-founder of Oracle, a lead investor for TikTok US — and one of the richest people alive.

David Ellison has sought to be a force in Hollywood for a while; this merger will help Paramount take on other streaming giants. But it’ll also give the enterprising family more data about consumer habits: Oracle’s push into artificial intelligence creates a “thirst for more insight” about how we consume media and products. Streaming channels offer more information overall, but also more specific, granular information.

“It’s tech giants becoming media giants,” says Jon Klein. He’s a former top executive at CBS News and CNN, as well as co-founder of HANG Media, a Gen Z social platform. “That’s the prism that you’ve got to look at this Paramount/WBD deal through. Oracle… wants to be one of the major players in AI.”

The cuts that might be coming

Paramount probably won’t keep making that many shows. They are projected to come out of this deal with tens of billions of dollars of debt owed. Free Press (not to be confused with The Free Press) says they’ll have to make up $16 billion in 18 months.

Ellison’s combined company will likely seek to be more “efficient’ — via employee layoffs, and buyouts to cut costs. So, the future of people in the media ecosystem hangs in the balance.

After Paramount acquired Skydance in 2025, a notably smaller deal, they laid off more than 1,000 employees. They haven’t been shy about cutting people. “Today, Paramount has half the people that they had one year ago,” commented Ted Sarandon, the co-CEO of former bidder Netflix. “So that gives you some sense of where this is heading.”

There are some political implications

After all, media and politics are entangled — especially when vital news sources hang in the balance. It’s worth looking at the politics of Paramount’s leaders.

David and Larry Ellison are a very MAGA-friendly pair. Larry Ellison has been a backer and an advisor to Trump, NPR explains; David Ellison actually attended the 2026 State of the Union, as a guest of Senator Lindsey Graham.

Trump cares about TV news: he’s regarded CNN as “fake news”, calling for new owners. He’s proven willing to wade into corporate matters during his second term.

You can imagine that not everyone is happy about Trump’s impending gains. In an opinion article published earlier this month, Free Press asserted that Trump wants CNN to be controlled by the Ellison family; he actually lobbied for Paramount Skydance, instead of Netflix, to acquire WBD. According to NPR, the Ellisons’ “lightning-swift ascent through social and legacy media [relied] heavily on their connection to the Oval Office”.

It’s ringing alarm bells that media companies are getting more entangled with government interest. Also, Free Press fears the merger’s implications amidst the Trump administration’s attacks in Iran. “The business side of major media companies loves a war”, they assert — and there is already little news discussion of the fact that this war wasn’t quite legal. (Trump and his cabinet started it unchecked by Congress.) With the Ellisons controlling CBS and CNN, Free Press worries this could get worse. Accurate reporting, they say, would “pave the road to peace”.

Your thoughts on Trump might differ — but the fear of lost accountability is a fair one.

What are the costs of consolidation?

Narrowing consumer choice is generally viewed as a potential threat: regulators at the Justice Department are supposed to place conditions on mergers, mitigating the harms. “What I remember when I was taking social studies in high school was an idea that the American government really had a goal or intention to allow the market to be as free as possible,” says Mr. Werstler, a beloved English department teacher. “Free and open market, we were told. And along with that was this understanding that should a merger like this come up, it would primarily be seen a disadvantage to the consumer.”

The Justice Department needs to make sure there are enough competitive pressures to drive down consumer costs. If the merger goes through as planned, Paramount will be able to leverage major brands (including “must-have” CBS) in negotiations. And, they’ll control nearly half of the top 50 most-subscribed-to pay-TV channels. Free Press worries that cable prices will skyrocket, and give streaming companies a chance to raise their prices, too.

“As a consumer, I of course was worried about the prices,” shares Mr. Werstler. His worries have a precedent: “I would say this is in general to most media now: prices have just been going up.”

He compares this merger to Kroger’s quest to acquire grocery stores like Vons and Gelson’s, in recent years. Newly unified grocery stores were “able to directly affect the pricing of consumer goods, and specifically those really important groceries, such as milk and eggs… before, the competition could set the price.” After grocery store mergers, Southern California shoppers seeking out a cheaper choice lost options.

Even aside from prices (which we can’t ignore), “industry consolidation in one sector… spurs consolidation across the entire media ecosystem.” Paramount is setting a precedent right now. Unfortunately, synergies might translate to less viewpoint diversity.

“Paramount has a very poor track record with regard to [diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives],” explains Keela Horton ‘28. Keela is the president and founder of Cathedral’s Girls on Film Club, dedicated to celebrating and analyzing the roles of girls and women in media and pop culture. Keela also has experience working as a professional actor herself. “And actually, when they merged with Skydance” – she’s referring to the merger that happened in 2025 – “they agreed to dismantle DEI programs, so we could see a similar thing could happen with Paramount and Warner Brothers.” Unfortunately, this takes an opportunity from us as viewers: we can all benefit from companies “empowering, lifting up, more diverse voices”.

More generalized and streamlined content might be heading our way – “safer media”, as Keela puts it – rather than niche shows and movies. Again, this might take away chances for learning. “One of the most important things about media is that it can… expand our worldview,” Keela says; an effect of consolidation is that said worldview, unfortunately, can shrink.

Mr. Werstler shares the same hesitation. “My main concern out of it was really this idea of, let’s say, the water is getting muddled, right?” Mr. Werstler remarks. “So I’m worried that, if you have such big companies no longer trying to work to appeal to the consumer through… creativity, instead, we’re going to have a product that just, in my opinion, will end up being bland.”

One more fear is that up-and-coming creators might be discouraged from approaching the larger company. “My brother, actually, he’s in Santa Monica to do fim school,” David Warren shares. “It’s not an easy thing for most people to get into film if you don’t have connections.” According to both David and Nico, new ideas go unnoticed easily by big production companies – and when competition is reduced, so are creators’ opportunities to pitch their ideas. “It eliminates both options… if they unify, they can both just say no at once,” David says.

So what comes next?

Until the deal closes fully, which Paramount hopes will happen about six months from now, Paramount has to be “circumspect” in its public comments.

The Justice Department will play an essential role in seeing whether this merger will actually go through. They have the ability to challenge mergers, while courts can actually block them.

Trump’s Justice Department, NPR says, is a “wild card” – they don’t expect the FCC to challenge the merger, though. Its chair, Brendan Carr, has lauded Ellison’s moves with CBS, and might advise the Justice Department.

European regulators might also challenge Paramount’s bid, and state attorney generals – reportedly, some from California and New York are already mobilizing to challenge the deal. Yet Paramount seems confident about regulatory approval.

Paramount’s quest to acquire WBD “shouldn’t be thought of simply as seeking to unify two major Hollywood players, two big streaming platforms, and two leading TV news divisions under one roof”, NPR argues. It will set a new precedent for the way viewers receive news and entertainment – how affordable it is; how biased it is; how diverse it is.

As for my opinion? As I’m sure you may already realize, I’m worried about this merger. I wouldn’t want to see thousands of employees get laid off, and millions of consumers’ prices rise. Knowing that diverse sources of media have taught us so much as a society, I don’t think we need to be losing any more of these.

No matter how you feel about it, though, I encourage you to keep watching. “This directly impacts all students at Cathedral, because the media is all around us,” Keela shares. “It directly shapes who we are, and… gives us the space to imagine the scope of our hopes and dreams.” The messages we receive are fundamental in shaping our perceptions of ourselves and the world. It helps us to know where our media is coming from.

“I think on a really fundamental level, it’s good to even understand that companies that are as big as this one can do this kind of merger,” Mr. Werstler says. “I would want students to care simply to be aware that it’s actually something that’s happening.” Mr. Werstler remarks that Paramount’s branding may not actually change, making the merger harder to notice — but transformation lurks under the surface. “ I think it’s important that they know that it is a function of these companies that they can literally buy each other.”

Honestly, this issue sounded quite confusing and corporate to me at first, but it’s going to set a precedent for how we all receive our information. So keep gathering information, about both who’s benefiting and who’s at risk. As students, it’s our time to learn about and find our place in the world. We deserve to know who holds the power over the resources we learn from.