TNT Sports chief to exit as Skydance combines sports operations

TNT Sports chairman and chief executive Luis Silberwasser is set to leave Warner Bros. Discovery as its merger with Paramount Skydance approaches completion on Oct. 6, according to CNBC and Variety. CNBC reported on Oct. 5 that CBS Sports president and chief executive David Berson will oversee the combined sports operations across the new company’s networks, platforms and territories.¹²

A consolidated sports structure

CNBC reported that Silberwasser informed his team of his departure in an emailed note on Monday. Berson will lead a newly created global sports group into which CBS Sports, TNT Sports and WBD Sports will be folded, the outlet said. The group is intended to oversee the merged company’s sports interests across all territories and distribution platforms. Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery have said that the combined company will use the Skydance name, according to CNBC.²

Variety also reported that Berson would assume responsibility for Skydance’s wider sports business after the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is completed. Silberwasser, whom Variety described as Warner Bros. Discovery’s senior sports executive, said in a staff memo that he supported the change and would help with the handover. “I fully support the decision and will do everything I can to be of assistance during the transition,” he said.¹

Silberwasser also told employees that the organisation’s achievements depended on its staff. “The success of this organization has always been about the talent, commitment and character of its people,” he said. Neither report provided further details about his plans after leaving or the terms of his departure.¹²

A broad portfolio of rights

The combined sports business will control rights involving NFL Sunday afternoon games, the full March Madness college basketball tournament, college football, the NHL, NASCAR, the French Open and The Masters, CNBC reported. Variety said CBS Sports brings rights including the NFL and The Masters, while Warner Bros. Discovery’s package includes NHL and Major League Baseball games as well as US rights to the French Open.¹²

The transaction will also place NCAA March Madness under the oversight of one company for the first time in years, according to Variety. CBS and Warner have shared those rights in the recent past. Variety reported that CBS brought Warner into the tournament’s coverage in 2010 because the associated fees had become too costly for CBS to bear by itself.¹

Leadership transition at Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery president and chief executive David Zaslav is also set to leave when the merger closes, Variety reported. He recorded a farewell video for employees at Warner Bros. Studios’ Ranch facility in Burbank, California, thanking them for their work and expressing confidence in what they would do next. The transaction is expected to close on Oct. 6, with the enlarged company adopting the name Skydance Corp., according to Variety.¹

The merger follows an earlier plan to divide Warner Bros. Discovery into two publicly traded companies, which did not proceed in 2025, Variety reported. The outlet said Zaslav and other senior executives had pursued job reductions intended to lower costs and improve operating efficiency. It also reported that Warner Bros. Discovery moved from a pro-forma EBITDA loss of about $2.1 billion in 2022 to an EBITDA profit of $1.4 billion in 2025.¹