The Harry Sisson Show - Holy Sh*t... This Changes EVERYTHING

Episode Date: February 28, 2026

Harry Sisson breaks down the major new Paramount/Warner Bros deal which would give Trump and his buddies control over CNN and more.

Well, folks, it looks like Donald Trump and his MAGA buddies are about to control CNN, trying to do as much as possible to control as much media as possible. And this major deal that was just announced today would give Donald Trump and the Republicans and just people aligned with Trump even more influence over the media. This is genuinely scary. It is awful for the United States, the rule of law, media independence, and it's something you absolutely need to know about. So we're going to talk about all this, the story on your screen and more.

Before I do any of that, though, please make sure to subscribe down below. I mean, it is more important than ever to support independent media, whether that's me or somebody else, just it's something to keep in mind. Drop a like on the video, comment. Let me know what you think about the story. If you're on Apple or Spotify, please make sure to rate the show five stars and follow along. And let's get right into it. So it all comes down to this.

It's a story you might have been following vaguely. It's been kind of going on in the background, but now it's here. it's getting real. Warner Brothers has now signed a merger agreement with Paramount Sky Dance. So Warner Brothers was being bid on by both Netflix and Paramount. Netflix originally started the deal. Paramount kind of came out of nowhere and said we won in. Netflix was the favorites. And then they have mysteriously, or not mysteriously, I guess, they dropped out by saying, you know, it's not business advantageous anymore. I mean, it just doesn't make sense for us to do this as a corporation. So we're dropping out. Paramount,

on the other hand, believes it is in their business interests, which I imagine comes with some politics behind it. It is certainly in the Republican Party's interest to have control over CNN, a major media network that has been long believed to be liberal, now has kind of gone and more and more to the center in recent years, and now it looks like it's making a run to the right if this goes through. But they have signed this merger agreement with Paramount Skydance. Warner Brothers on Friday formally signed this agreement to be acquired by Skydance, Paramount. The two companies announced, setting the same as a new government, setting the same as a the stage for one of the most consequential media mergers in recent history, and that is,

putting it lightly, I'd say, the deal was inked just a day after Netflix abruptly announced it was pulling out of the bidding war for Warner Brothers Discovery and its streaming assets, effectively closing the curtains on a corporate battle that had riveted Hollywood. Paramount Skydance offer of $31 a share values Warner Brothers Discovery at roughly $77 billion, and includes the Warner Bros. Film Studio, the HBO Max streaming platform, and a lot. a portfolio of cable channels, including CNN. Netflix's proposal, and this is crucial, Netflix's proposal did not include the cable assets. So CNN would have remained separate from this deal. Now CNN is about to be controlled by Paramount Skydance. The takeover bid, factoring in WBD's debt load,

comes to a total of more than $110 billion. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both media giants the company said in a joint news release. The deal is, of course, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearances and approval by WBD shareholders with a vote expected in the early spring of 2026. I don't think the regulatory clearances will pose much of a threat for them, at least from the federal government. The state may be a different story. But the federal government, Donald Trump is not going to get in the way of this because, and here's the crucial part of this story. Here's why the control of C. is vital as a media outlet.

The Paramount is controlled by David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, who's associated with Oracle, and they are both major Republican Party donors. Now, you might know Larry Ellison and David Ellison as people who have very much so aligned themselves with Donald Trump in the recent years. They've been donating to Republicans for a long time, but ever since Donald Trump got into office, they've been especially in favor of Trump, donating to his packs, hosting fundraisers, talking very well about Republicans, and, you know, helping him out, helping Donald Trump out. Remember, Donald Trump won a $16 million settlement from Paramount Skydance because of 60 Minutes.

He claimed that 60 Minutes was unedited, or excuse me, edited unfairly toward him, which is total nonsense, and they bent the knee to hand Donald Trump a bunch of money. and now Donald Trump is returning the favor. He's not going to stand in the way of this deal because it helps him, and it's a favor return to the Ellison family. Here's just a little bit of background on the Ellison. So Ellison hosted a six-figure per-person campaign fundraiser for Trump in 2020. He dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago during 2024 and met with him regularly in 2025,

including during a White House announcement where the president announced Oracle would be a key player in a $500 billion AI partnership dubbed Stargate. Trump in January said he'd like Larry to buy TikTok. Then there's his son, David. The younger Ellison is now CEO and chairman of Paramount Skydance after the companies merged. David Ellison succeeded after Paramount this year paid Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit the president filed against CBS in which the president alleged, of course, 60 minutes, engaged in election interference, which was total nonsense.

I mean, just to be clear, there wasn't an ounce of validity to what Donald Trump was Not even a little bit. Not even a little bit. And yet they bent the need to hand Donald Trump $16 million. And we know why they did that, because they're friendly with Donald Trump. And so that brings us to some responses from Democrats. This is the Attorney General in California saying that it is not a done deal. These two Hollywood Titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny. The California Department of Justice has an open investigation and we intend to be vigorous in our review. Chris Murphy said, Paramount should enjoy its growing news monopoly while they have it because when Democrats win back power, we are going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates, all of them.

And I love that. And Brian Tyler Cohen wrote, Paramount elbowed out Netflix to buy Warner Brothers Discovery after a month-long bidding war when, not if, the deal closes, Paramount will control 25% of the entire media market and half of the cable TV market. It will put CBS and CNN under one roof. And that roof sits atop a house owned by the Trump-friendly Ellison family. And this story is significant, not just because, they now will control CNN, but they also have CBS.

And who's at CBS? Who's the name that we've been hearing for months now at CBS? Barry Weiss. Barry Weiss at CBS, which has ruined 60 minutes. She has single-handedly ruined CBS. She's ruined 60 minutes. She's ruined a once-respected institution to the point where millions of Americans

don't know if they can trust CBS anymore. Just a few months ago, we had that 60-minute segment on Seacot, that prison in El Salvador, that torture prison, that Donald Trump was sending undocumented migrants to, and sometimes documented migrants to, claiming that they were violent criminals when reality the majority of people sent had no convictions. And that segment, which went in-depth on Seacot, spoke to people who were at Seacot, was cut last minute by Barry Weiss herself. And now she's going to have control over CNN, according to some reporting.

She will be in charge, in charge. A CBS news producer who left the network after an almost half-century tenure issued, shoot a dire warning in a farewell memo. Quote, this is Mary Walsh. We've been reading a lot of goodbyes lately, and I'm here headed out the door. But maybe it's for the best, Walsh wrote, adding that journalists at CBS News have been told to aim the reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum. I don't know how to do that.

The memo comes as CBS's parent company, Paramount Skydance, emerged as the frontrunner and the winner of the bid for Warner Bros, CNN's parent company. Since Ellison's takeover a paramount in August, CBS has come under the control of Barry Weiss, who is widely criticized for steering the network into Trump-friendly territory. Though Walsh's statement does not specify the particular part of the political spectrum, we know where they're going. In December, Weiss came under fire for canceling a 60-minute segment at the last minute that we just discussed the following month during an all-hands meeting across CBS News bureaus.

She told staff to quit if they did not align with her vision. Meanwhile, the Ellison Takeover has sent waves of anchored. anxiety through CNN. Understandably so, with insiders describing the panic among staffers as off the charts, and some even claiming the network is doomed. The situation could be especially awkward for Anderson Cooper, who just left 60 minutes in February, becoming one of the highest profile departures under Barry Weiss's leadership, but he has remained an anchor at CNN. Will that remain with Barry Weiss controlling CNN? I don't, who knows? Anderson Cooper, is one of the best in the business, if not in the top three, in terms of journalists who have been

in the game, who have really put their lives on the line for journalism to get the truth. And now he might be forced out of CNN, depending, I don't know, if Barry Weiss controls at all, which seems like it might be the case. This will be messy and uncomfortable if Barry and Anderson are under the same roof, again, a media insider told News Nation, adding Anderson really doesn't like her or want to work for her, and he's the face of the network for now. So there is some serious, serious anxiety under this new deal, the proposals for what might happen. And I think there shouldn't just be anxiety among CNN, among 60 Minutes or whoever it is at CBS that still works there.

There should be anxiety among every single American. They're going to control CNN and CBS. CBS is already taking a right word lurch. CNN is taking a right word lurch kind of has done over the past couple of years. now under Barry Weiss, we know where it's going. We know where it's going. They will do Donald Trump's bidding. Barry Weiss already is doing Donald Trump's bidding.

The Ellicons are doing Donald Trump's bidding. Paramount is doing Donald Trump's bidding. And it's something that we need to know about. These mergers can get complex and kind of hard to understand. I even feel sometimes it's a little overwhelming. It's like, well, who controls who? Who's merging? It's weird.

But it's something that we all have to understand and be in the know about because it's happening. And we can't sit on the sidelines. And that's why I said at the beginning of this, independent media is now more important than ever. I mean, we need people who can't be bought out. This channel's owned by me. This show is owned by me. Your other favorite independent shows or channels on whatever platform you're watching, they're owned by those people. So whoever is your favorite, whether it's me, that's great.

But if it's not me, support them. You know, I don't know. We are in a bad, bad time. So look, I will leave the video there. Let me know what you think about this in the comments. Make sure to subscribe as well. drop a like on the video. If you're on Apple or Spotify, please make sure to rate the show five stars and follow along. It goes an incredibly long way. We're in crazy times. Keep safe out there.

We'll talk soon.