The acquisition would give Ellison’s Paramount control of CNN and CBS News, the latter of which he tasked Bari Weiss to oversee in late 2025. In February, CNN averaged just 807,000 viewers in primetime, compared to 1,136,000 for MS Now and 2,612,000 for Fox News. Measuring total day viewership, CNN drew 564,000 viewers, behind MS Now’s 708,000 and Fox News’ 1,718,000. Regardless of format or talent, CNN is not going to overtake Fox News and is unlikely to claw back any meaningful market share. The priority will be integrating Paramount+ and HBO Max and leveraging the combined live sports portfolios of CBS Sports and TNT Sports.

Source: CNN March 07, 2026 15:53 UTC