TNT Sports chairman/CEO Luis Silberwasser will reportedly depart the company ahead of the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Silberwasser is said to have informed employees of his departure in a memo to staff that was leaked Monday. He joined TNT Sports (then-WBD Sports) in June 2022 after formerly serving as the president of Univision Television Networks Group. Silberwasser began with TNT shortly after the completion of the 2022 spinoff of WarnerMedia from AT&T into a new venture with Discovery, Inc., Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Paramount-WBD merger, which is expected to close on Tuesday this week, will bring the CBS Sports and TNT Sports divisions under one roof. CBS Sports president/CEO David Berson is reportedly expected to lead the combined division, which will hold media rights to properties such as the NFL, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, Big Ten, Masters Tournament and more. Berson is said to be reporting to George Cheeks, who was announced Monday as the co-chair and chief content officer for the combined company’s television division.
The new company will be called Skydance, adopting the name of the David Ellison production studio that purchased Paramount in 2024.
Under Silberwasser, TNT Sports lost its longtime NBA rights package and acquired rights to the French Open tennis tournament, Unrivaled, Big East Conference basketball, FIBA World Cup and NASCAR, along with various sublicensing deals — including one with ESPN to air select College Football Playoff games (including a semifinal for the first time this year).
TNT Sports has several deals nearing expiration, including pacts with MLB and the NHL. The combined Paramount-WBD company, which will be named Skydance, is entering its new phase with a net debt load of approximately $79 billion.
RedBird Capital founder and Paramount board member Gerry Cardinale recently stated that it would be better for the company to negotiate with the NFL on a new deal “in a few years.” The league reportedly holds a change-of-control provision it can activate within two years of a merger, including Ellison’s Skydance acquiring Paramount last year. The NFL is able to opt out of most of its media rights deals following the 2029 season.
