CNN chief says he wants to stay as Paramount takeover looms

CNN chief executive Mark Thompson told staff on Wednesday he is "enthusiastic about staying" after Paramount Skydance takes over the network's owner.

The comment came during a staff town hall on 23 September, as questions swirl over what the change of ownership means for CNN's journalists, crews and editorial operation. Thompson was direct about the limits of what he can tell them, saying he has no knowledge of how Paramount Skydance wants to proceed once its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN's parent company, is complete, according to Variety.

The meeting was organised several days ago. It was not called in response to Paramount's legal win this week, when the company settled an antitrust lawsuit — a legal challenge over competition concerns — brought by 12 state attorneys general.

Thompson said "how Paramount wants to run news" is not known to him at present. That is the central uncertainty for staff. CNN employs hundreds of journalists, producers and technical crews whose daily work depends on decisions about budgets, bureaus and programming slots.

Veteran correspondent John King asked when a handover might begin and when Paramount executives might appear in CNN's offices. Thompson said he did not know. Short answer. No timeline was offered.

He also urged caution over talk of combining CNN with CBS News, which Paramount already owns. Thompson told staff it was not clear that Paramount intends to merge the two news operations. No such plan has been confirmed.

The financial stakes are large. Warner Bros. Discovery said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing earlier this year that CNN is expected to generate $600 million in profit in 2026 on $1.8 billion in revenue, according to Variety. Those are company projections, not reported results.

Thompson took charge of CNN in 2023 after leading the New York Times and the BBC, according to Reuters. Paramount won the bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery in February, and Thompson has since repeatedly told staff to keep focus on the work while ownership talks continue, according to Deadline.

CNN declined to make executives available for comment on the town hall.

For viewers, this means no immediate change. The owner is set to change, the boss wants to stay, and the plan for the newsroom is still to be decided.