TNT Sports chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser is leaving the company as Paramount Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery closes, according to CNBC’s Alex Sherman. CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson will run a newly formed global sports group, and the move lands at the networks that carry AEW’s weekly shows.
Silberwasser told his team Monday in an emailed note, CNBC reported, citing people familiar with the matter. In a staff memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, he wrote that “today’s TNT Sports is healthier and stronger than ever.”
Berson’s group will oversee all networks, platforms and territories, with the CBS Sports, TNT Sports and WBD Sports brands rolling up into it. The roughly $110 billion merger, which will operate under the Skydance name, is set to close Tuesday, October 6. A formal announcement of Berson’s role is expected in the next couple of days, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The combined portfolio includes NFL Sunday afternoon games, all of March Madness, college football, the NHL and NASCAR, according to CNBC.
Where AEW Fits
None of the reporting mentions AEW, and nothing in it says the promotion’s TV situation is changing. AEW’s domestic deal with WBD runs through 2027, with WBD holding a one-year extension option, according to F4W Online. That option could pass to Paramount Skydance once the deal closes.
Saturday nights are where the overlap sits. F4W Online noted in March that TKO’s Mark Shapiro has spoken about UFC appearing on TNT, and that David Ellison mentioned it on a call. UFC airs on Saturdays, as does AEW Collision on TNT.
Tony Khan has repeatedly said he welcomes the takeover. “I’d love to be on the same channel as UFC,” Khan said on a pre-Revolution media call in March.
WBD’s wrestling ties already stretch past AEW, with WWE having signed a multi-year highlights deal with Bleacher Report last week.
