Paramount Skydance is set to complete its acquisition of fellow US broadcast heavyweight Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) after a US federal judge approved the $111 billion deal, with the company announcing Ynon Kreiz as co-chief of the combined company.
The appointment, announced by Paramount chief executive David Ellison minutes after the judgment, will see Kreiz, the former chief executive of toy company Mattel, step into the role from October 5.
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Ellison continues as chairman and chief executive of the merged company, leading strategy, creative, and technology, including its talent relationships, strategic partnerships, technology, and capital allocation, while Kreiz will oversee day-to-day operations and integration of the combined businesses.
Ellison said: “Bringing together Paramount and WBD to create a next-generation global media company is a transformational moment for our industry.
“Leading it takes a rare combination of strategic vision, operational depth, and experience running a public company at the highest levels of media. Ynon brings all three.
“In Ynon, I'm adding a partner with strong leadership and the operating firepower this integration demands. It's a division of labor built on our complementary strengths, with clear reporting lines, and it lets me focus where I can contribute most: long-term strategy, the company's overall creative direction, talent relationships, strategic partnerships, technology and capital allocation.
“Together, we'll build one integrated company that is creator-first, tech-forward and built to scale globally.”
At Mattel, Kreiz served as chief executive and chairman since 2018, leading the company’s expansion into new verticals, including film, television, consumer products, digital games, live events and experiences, and publishing.
Before Mattel, Kreiz was chairman and chief executive of Maker Studios, the short-form video content provider and one of YouTube's largest multichannel networks, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company.
He also previously served as chairman and CEO of Endemol Group, the world's largest independent television production company, and was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive of Fox Kids Europe.
Kreiz said: “The industry is at an inflection point, demanding evolution, investment, and a willingness to rethink business models. I look forward to working with the leadership team to build a cohesive global entertainment platform — one that stands out with best-in-class operations and execution powered by technology, with unparalleled creative relationships, production capabilities, and global reach.
“We will continue empowering creators, make this company a greenfield for innovation and storytelling, and collaborate with key partners to reach and engage fans worldwide.”
The acquisition, meanwhile, will go ahead after Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín greenlit the consent decree defining the terms of the settlement agreed last week by Paramount and 12 US states, describing it as “a reasonable factual and legal resolution of the dispute.”
The decree set out terms for the five years after the merger closes, addresses theatrical and cable sector antitrust concerns raised by the 12 US states that competition will be reduced because of the merging of different film studios, and the potential for the two news networks of CBS News (Paramount) and CNN (WBD) to be merged.
Now that the merger has passed this stage of regulatory scrutiny in the US – although other challenges do still lie ahead in the UK – it looks set to lead to the creation of a sports rights behemoth that encompasses a major suite of properties across the US and globally.
Paramount’s CBS Sports network holds rights to several major properties, including European club soccer’s UEFA Champions League, American football’s NFL (domestically), PGA Tour golf, and top-tier college sports. In 2024, it aired the most-watched NFL Super Bowl in history.
Just this month, Paramount expanded its broadcast agreement with mixed martial arts’ Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) with a new six-year deal to provide coverage of its top-line events in Canada.
Its Paramount+ streaming service has, as of late, become its primary sports rights vehicle, striking multi-year agreements with the TKO-owned Zuffa Boxing organization and MMA promotion UFC.
In terms of WBD's major sports rights, in the US, it has a domestic rights stable that includes the French Open tennis Grand Slam, Major League Baseball, college football, and ice hockey’s NHL, as well as an expansive international portfolio that also includes the HBO Max service.
WBD was initially put up for sale last year, with Paramount and Netflix the two main suitors.
For months, Netflix was the preferred bidder for the sought-after promotion, but Paramount’s repeated attempts to outbid the streamer and its public chase of the company meant that a deal was never reached.
Then, after months of public legal wrangling, Netflix pulled out of the race in late February, leaving the way clear for Paramount's offer – worth considerably more than Netflix's overall – to be accepted by the WBD board.
Then, in early March, David Ellison, the chief executive of Paramount (whose father Larry is a long-time friend of US President Donald Trump), confirmed plans to merge the company’s Paramount+ streaming service with Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max OTT platform once the acquisition was completed.
