Skydance closes Warner Bros. Discovery deal, pledges AI for creatives
Skydance said it completed its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery and renamed the combined company Skydance, now trading on the NYSE as SKYD; WBD shareholders received about $31.02 a share in cash. In a “Day 1” memo, CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz listed four priorities, one being to become the most technologically capable company in media by embracing AI to expand what creatives can imagine and make the business more productive. Its streaming products, including HBO Max, Paramount+, Discovery+ and Pluto TV, will merge into a single service over time, with no timetable given.
A media conglomerate with major studios and news networks is publicly putting AI at the center of its strategy, a signal of how generative AI may spread through content production and streaming operations.
Paramount has completed its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery and renamed the combined company Skydance. The company announced the close on Tuesday, and its shares now trade on the New York Stock Exchange as SKYD. Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders received about $31.02 a share in cash.
Skydance owns two major film studios, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. It also owns HBO Max, Paramount+, CBS, HBO, CNN and CBS News. Its sports arms are CBS Sports and TNT Sports.
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