George Cheeks to Run Three TV Studios as Paramount-Warner Deal Closes
Three of television's biggest studios will answer to one boss next week.
George Cheeks, Chair of TV Media, is set to oversee CBS Studios, Warner Bros. Television and Paramount Television Studios once the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery transaction closes on Oct. 6, according to Deadline. The date sets the clock for a combination that puts broadcast, cable and streaming production under single leadership.
Two of his key reports are staying put. Channing Dungey, Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group and US Networks, and Matt Thunell, President of Paramount Television Studios, will both report to Cheeks after the merger. At CBS Studios, President David Stapf continues to report to Cheeks, a relationship that dates to Cheeks joining what was then ViacomCBS in 2020.
The TV structure fits into a wider chart. Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg are poised to oversee the combined film studios, Warner Bros. and Paramount. On streaming, HBO chief Casey Bloys is in line to run the combined HBO Max and Paramount+ operation after Cindy Holland stepped down. At the top, David Ellison serves as CEO of Paramount, with Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO of the combined company.
Cheeks already oversees Paramount's linear brands, meaning its traditional broadcast and cable channels, including CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET. Even under common ownership, Paramount and Warner Bros. cable packages must continue to be negotiated separately with pay-TV providers. That requirement comes from a settlement with 12 state attorneys general.
The deal is valued at $110 billion and brings CBS News, CNN and HBO Max under one roof, NBC News reported on Sept. 30 when a judge allowed the takeover to close. The path there was bumpy. A federal judge had ordered Paramount Skydance to pause the acquisition through Aug. 3, according to Reuters. Paramount Skydance had been preparing a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery since September 2025.
Paramount Television Studios has had a turbulent two years. It was closed in August 2024 to cut costs ahead of the merger, then revived. Thunell now leads it, with former Skydance executive Arturo Reyes tapped as Head of Production Finance.
For viewers, the change is backstage for now. The studio names in the credits stay the same. What shifts is who approves the budgets, houses the writers' rooms and keeps crews of hundreds in work.
