Skydance names Bloys, Cheeks and Gunn to run combined Paramount-WBD

The combined Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery company will be called simply Skydance.

It will be run by co-chief executives David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz, the former Mattel chief executive named to the joint role on 30 September. Andy Gordon will serve as president and Dennis Cinelli as chief financial officer on the chief executive’s corporate leadership team, according to Deadline’s organisation chart published on 5 October. Deadline

The full leadership list is expected soon after the acquisition closes. That close is set for Tuesday, with Skydance poised to unveil its official executive structure early next week. Deadline

Streaming is going to Casey Bloys. Bloys, now chairman of HBO, will serve as co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance DTC, meaning direct-to-consumer, the streaming services sold straight to viewers.

He will share the top of that unit with JB Perrette, joining from Warner Bros. Discovery as co-chair and chief business officer. Ellison chose Bloys to lead the combined streaming business, Variety reported on 30 September, and Bloys holds a contract that runs through 2027. Variety

No combined app yet. Bloys indicated that HBO Max and Paramount+ are more likely to be bundled, sold together but kept as separate apps, than merged into one, The Hollywood Reporter reported on 1 October. The shift follows the exit of Cindy Holland, who served as chair of direct-to-consumer at Paramount Skydance and is leaving ahead of the merger.

Television will be led by George Cheeks. Cheeks will serve as co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance TV, with Perrette also serving as its co-chair and chief business officer.

All three TV studios will sit under Cheeks, Deadline reported on 2 October. That puts programme-making and channels under one creative lead and one business lead.

Film keeps two familiar pairings. Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein will serve as co-chairs of the Skydance Motion Picture Group. James Gunn and Peter Safran will remain as co-chairmen of DC Studios, home to Superman, Batman and its other comic-book franchises.

News has new mastheads too. Mark Thompson was named chairman and editor-in-chief of CNN Worldwide. Bari Weiss was named editor-in-chief of CBS News.

On cable, Channing Dungey is poised for an expanded role across the networks, Deadline reported on 5 October. The cable portfolio spans channels from both sides of the deal.

For viewers, this means familiar faces stay in charge. Bloys keeps hold of HBO and streaming, Cheeks takes the TV studios, Gunn and Safran keep DC, while Thompson and Weiss take the newsrooms. The apps stay separate for now.