We're offering a 2-week trial of WrapPRO for $1. If you’ve been wanting to check out our full coverage, now’s the time. Adam Chitwood here, subbing in for Roger Cheng as he takes a much-deserved day off. And what a day to be off.The battle for Warner Bros. Discovery ended on Thursday with Netflix, the presumed victor, bowing out after Paramount raised its bid to $31 per share and walking away with a $2.8 billion breakup fee. David Ellison's "seven no's means yes" approach worked. He won. The reaction was a mix of shock, concern and dismay late Thursday and throughout Friday. After seeing Ellison install Bari Weiss as the head of CBS News and move that institution to the political right, CNN staffers are terrified of what's to become of their network (more on that in The Media Front newsletter, in your inbox this Sunday). Especially since President Donald Trump has explicitly suggested that CNN should be sold in any Warner Bros. deal. The political concern extends to the entirety of the Warner Bros. operation. Ellison's moves at Paramount since acquiring that studio have been to lean into macho material — Taylor Sheridan is writing a "Call of Duty" movie, #MeToo-canceled filmmaker Brett Ratner is directing "Rush Hour 4" and #MeToo-canceled screenwriter Max Landis is helping to revamp the "G.I. Joe" franchise. Would the daring and politically charged "One Battle After Another" or "Sinners" be greenlit under a Paramount-owned Warner Bros. Pictures? And what's to become of HBO, home to prestige and largely progressive programming? Is anything safe? John Oliver has been known to bite the hand that feeds on his Emmy juggernaut "Last Week Tonight," and Paramount is the same company that axed Stephen Colbert despite being the late-night ratings king. Thousands of jobs are also expected to be lost as a result of the merger, and while Ellison has promised an increase in theatrical feature film output, anyone who paid attention to what happened to Fox after the Disney acquisition is dubious (and more on that in our Reel to Real newsletter, in your inbox Monday). So questions loom, and the mood is largely grim. But there are many months before the deal goes through — if it does — and we'll be covering it every step of the way. Adam Chitwood 
One of the biggest questions looming over Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is... 
| ||||||||||||
