Jessica Mendoza

The Warner Bros.

Paramount merger could create a media behemoth.

In addition to its Hollywood studios, Warner Bros.

Discovery controls a massive film archive, HBO Max, and TV networks, including CNN.

Paramount Skydance owns Paramount Pictures, cable channels like Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, and CBS, both news and sports.

So if this merger between Paramount and Warner Brothers actually happens, what would that look like?

Starting with streaming services, for example.

Joe, I also want to ask about the news outlets.

I mean, Paramount's already making significant changes at CBS, and now they could also own CNN?

President Trump has complained about what he calls bias in news coverage, including from CNN and CBS.

David Ellison and his father, billionaire Larry Ellison, have signaled to the Trump administration that if they gain control of CNN, they would try to overhaul it.

If the deal goes through, Paramount will have a big challenge on its hands.

The company stands to take on more debt than it already has, bringing its total debt load up to $79 billion.

So as a condition of Paramount's deal with Warner, David's father, Larry Ellison, agreed to personally guarantee much of the purchase.

The Ellisons are one of the wealthiest families in the world.

Larry Ellison is the co-founder of tech company Oracle and already a player in media, since Oracle has a big stake in TikTok's U.S.

operations.

Still, the deal leaves Paramount navigating a new media era with significant debt.

Today on CNBC, David Ellison was asked about potential layoffs.

He said, quote, we will absolutely have to rationalize the overall corporate overhead of the company, but that's not the primary driver of the synergies in the deal.