AEW is listed under TBS and TNT on the new company charts for Skydance, the company formed by the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger, rather than under TNT Sports or HBO Max, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. UFC and Zuffa Boxing are listed under Paramount+ and CBS Sports.
The placement matters for AEW’s next TV contract, which ends at the end of 2027, per the Observer. If AEW is treated as entertainment, George Cheeks would head that department and be a key figure in negotiating a new deal. Channing Dungey will be in charge of the cable networks and reports to Cheeks, which would also make him a key decision-maker on AEW’s next contract.
The executives who negotiated AEW’s current deal, David Zaslav and Luis Silberwasser, are not with the new company, while the key people behind the UFC and Zuffa Boxing deals are. CBS Sports chief David Berson is taking over Skydance’s combined sports group, and the Observer reported he may be the key person on AEW’s next contract other than David Ellison.
Ellison is Skydance’s chairman and CEO, and Ynon Kreiz is co-CEO, focused on day-to-day operations and business integration. Skydance has promised $6 billion in cuts. Tony Khan has said he is friends with Ellison, and the Observer noted it is clear from a number of Khan’s statements that the two have talked.
The plan is again to merge HBO Max and Paramount+ into one streaming service. The Observer said that would greatly increase potential viewership for UFC and Zuffa Boxing, and for AEW by a smaller percentage, since HBO Max was the larger of the two platforms.
The merger cleared a major hurdle when Paramount Skydance settled a state lawsuit over the deal.
