DOMINANT ANGLE
Paris sees the birth of Skydance as a financial gamble built on debt, whose bill will be paid in layoffs and uncertainty for Hollywood.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Paramount Skydance finalized the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, October 6, for approximately $110 billion, according to RFI.
- 02
Ellison and Kreiz aim for $6 billion in synergies on $70 billion in revenue and mention decisions affecting staffing, according to Le Monde.
- 03
The closing follows the approval of a settlement with twelve US states; according to RFI, Paramount has committed to $300 million in additional annual production spending.
ANALYSIS
Paris, October 7, 2026. The French press reports on the finalization, on Tuesday, October 6, of the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance, first highlighting the financial scope of the operation. RFI mentions a transaction of $110 billion, "one of the largest media mergers of all time", which forms an entity renamed Skydance. HuffPost France reports $111 billion. The group brings together Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., CBS, CNN, HBO Max, and Paramount+, with franchises like Harry Potter, Batman, Star Trek, or Mission Impossible.
Le Monde emphasizes the deal's structure. According to the daily, the takeover of the two studios by David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, "was done in the style of the 1980s", with financially leveraged buyouts and a hostile bid to take Warner from Netflix, with "a lot of politics" to obtain the approval of the Trump administration and then that of the federal states. In a letter to employees, Ellison and his co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, former boss of Mattel, announce "difficult decisions affecting our workforce", in the service of a goal of $6 billion in synergies for $70 billion in revenue.
France 24 and RFI detail the judicial process. The closing occurred less than a week after a California federal judge approved a settlement between Paramount and twelve US states that had sued on behalf of antitrust law. According to RFI, prosecutors obtained a commitment of $300 million in additional annual production expenses. France 24 notes that the Trump administration had approved the deal in June without requiring any changes. The actions of a screenwriters' union had also delayed the operation.
The social and editorial aspect remains present. France 24 reports that media groups fear for the independence of CNN, and that David Ellison, whose family has ties to Donald Trump, plans to merge Paramount+ and HBO Max in the long term. HuffPost France gives a voice to artists: Mark Ruffalo, Pedro Pascal, Robert De Niro, or Denis Villeneuve are among the concerned. In April, an open letter had denounced a transaction that would "reduce competition" and leave "less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world".
The French perspective is that of an outside observer to an American industry: the financial dimension dominates, and the reaction of the European public and the fate of national channels remain little discussed.
SOURCES (4)
- HuffPost FranceMEDIUM
