Merged Paramount-Warner Bros. to Be Called Skydance

The company that will combine Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will be called simply Skydance.

Chairman and chief executive David Ellison revealed the name on Friday, Oct. 2, in a post on X. It was the first post on a newly created account, according to Variety.

Ellison picked the name of his own original film production business, Skydance Media, for the enlarged group. The choice drops both the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery names from the top of the company. The deal that creates the new Skydance is set to close on Oct. 6.

The price tag is large. The merger is valued at $111 billion, Variety reported. That figure is the most recent stated value for a deal that has also been described at $110 billion in court coverage.

Two people will run it. Ellison will serve as chairman and chief executive, alongside co-chief executive Ynon Kreiz. Kreiz, the former Mattel chief, will join the company on Oct. 5, one day before the planned close.

The name announcement follows clearance in court. A judge overseeing a 12-state antitrust lawsuit, meaning a case arguing the deal would harm competition, approved a settlement between Paramount and the state attorneys general on Sept. 30. Paramount had reached that agreement with the states on Sept. 21, which allowed the takeover to proceed, according to NBC News. Earlier, a federal judge had ordered Paramount Skydance to temporarily pause the acquisition through Aug. 3.

There is also an early signal on news leadership. Ellison has asked CNN chief Mark Thompson to stay on after the Warner Bros. deal, Reuters reported on Oct. 1, citing a source.

For viewers, this means one name will soon sit above two large programme catalogues. What remains to be finalised is how that name appears on screens, services and studio lots after Oct. 6.