CNN employees reacted with alarm after Netflix abruptly pulled out of the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, effectively clearing the way for a takeover of the 24/7 cable channel by Paramount Skydance, the media giant run by technology heir David Ellison. Seven current CNN employees who spoke to NBC News on Thursday night, hours after Netflix announced it would not try to match Paramount’s bid for WBD, expressed a combination of fear and concern. In December, CNN staffers received a memo instructing them not to speak publicly about anything related to their parent company’s situation. It was not immediately clear whether David Ellison would combine CNN and CBS News into a single news organization or operate them as separate units.

Source: CNN February 27, 2026 23:41 UTC