What Larry and David Ellison Would Own After Warner Bros. Takeover

CBS

Even in the diminished state of broadcast television, CBS, which the Ellisons took over with the Paramount deal last year, remains a powerful weapon. The network owns marquee sports rights to the N.F.L., the N.C.A.A. basketball tournament and the Masters golf tournament. With prime-time hits like “Tracker,” “Survivor” and “Matlock,” the so-called Tiffany Network has ranked No. 1 among the broadcast networks for years. David Ellison has publicly called it “a remarkable asset.”

HBO Max

Simply: HBO remains the crown jewel of premium television. The network, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, has won the best drama award at the Emmys eight times in the last decade, dominating well-heeled rivals like Netflix, Apple and Amazon. The network has been on a roll lately, with a surprise hit medical drama, “The Pitt,” as well as its latest “Game of Thrones” spinoff, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” HBO is led by long-tenured executives, including its chairman Casey Bloys. Add in one of the most enviable premium libraries in TV — “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “Veep,” “The Wire” — and another surprise in “Heated Rivalry,” a show HBO Max licensed from Canada for very little money, and it will be a boon for the Ellisons.

Cable Networks

Cable viewership and revenues have plummeted, but the Ellisons are betting they can wring some life out of them. Paramount Skydance already owns MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET. Coming with the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition: HGTV, the Food Network, Discovery, TLC, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, TBS and TNT.

Paramount+

After taking over Paramount, Mr. Ellison promptly enlisted Cindy Holland, one of the key architects of Netflix’s original programming strategy, as the head of Paramount+, which has 79 million subscribers. Paramount+ is home to Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman,” “Tulsa King,” “1923” and “Lioness” dramas, as well as the U.F.C. and the “Star Trek” universe. Paramount has rights to Mr. Sheridan’s future TV output through the end of 2028.

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