In a symbolic first stop after the merger between Paramount and Skydance Media was officially completed Thursday morning, chairman and CEO David Ellison dropped by the CBS News offices and declared his commitment to investing in the news division.
“He said all the right things and more,” one staffer told The Independent.
The Thursday morning meet-and-greet at the network’s newsroom appeared to be a way for Ellison to soothe some fraught nerves after a bruising and politically stained merger process that featured several senior news leaders resigning in protest amid the old Paramount leadership (led by Shari Redstone) negotiating a $16 million settlement of Donald Trump’s “meritless” lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview.
Besides the payoff to Trump, which has led to accusations of “bribery,” Paramount also canceled the top-rated CBS late-night show hosted by outspoken Trump critic Stephen Colbert just ahead of the merger’s closure, prompting network staffers to claim the comic was a victim of the “Trump shakedown.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s handpicked FCC chief Brendan Carr reveled in the Colbert cancellation before finally signing off on the $8.4 billion merger last month after Skydance promised that it would eliminate diversity policies and bring aboard an ombudsman to review “complaints of bias” at the news network. Additionally, the president has claimed that Ellison – the son of MAGA-boosting Oracle founder Larry Ellison – made a secret side deal to air up to $20 million of pro-Trump PSAs as part of the 60 Minutes settlement.
With all of this baggage hanging over the merger, Ellison obviously wanted to start the first day of the new media conglomerate – which is now known as Paramount, a Skydance corporation – off on a positive and optimistic note. And that included reassuring the newsroom that he is committed to investing in the network.
In an open letter published Thursday morning, Ellison made sure to praise 60 Minutes by name while touting the “storied” legacy of CBS News, adding that it has a “long tradition of impactful reporting led by seasoned journalists committed to accuracy, integrity, and public trust.”
At the same time, he acknowledged that “it’s been a challenging period and we’re deeply grateful for your resilience, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to the news business.” He also noted that “we take immense pride in CBS News’ legacy of impactful journalism and look forward to continuing to foster a newsroom culture where journalists are empowered, trusted, and equipped to do their best work.”
With CBS News president Tom Cibrowski sending the staff a note in the morning encouraging everyone to welcome Ellison to the newsroom, the new CEO jumped onto the morning editorial call before meeting with the network’s executive producers and senior news leaders. He also made a point of walking through the newsroom and meeting the entire staff, according to several network sources.
Two staffers told The Independent that he reiterated much of what he stated in his welcome letter, which included thanking the staff for staying the course over the past few months during a “tough” period.
Ellison also made a point of stating that his visit to the CBS News office was his “first stop” after closing the deal, adding that he wants to keep an “open dialogue” with the newsroom and even if he doesn’t have answers on Day One, he “wants to keep talking.”
“He didn’t botch it,” a network employee said. “Which is a decent start.”
According to one source, during Ellison’s meeting with the EPs and senior leaders, some of the attendees “went on about how many years they’ve been here and how important they are.”
One subject that didn’t appear to come up, at least through Ellison’s walkthrough of the newsroom, is reports that he has been in talks with Bari Weiss about potentially purchasing her anti-woke outlet, The Free Press, and giving her a senior role at CBS News. As network staffers told The Independent, there wasn’t much time for questions and answers, as he was scheduled for lunch at CBS Sports.
