Barry Diller sought to buy CNN from Warner Bros. Discovery, sources say
By Brian Stelter, CNN
(CNN) — CNN is not for sale, the company reiterated Wednesday after a news report about media mogul Barry Diller’s interest in buying the cable network from Warner Bros. Discovery.
Diller approached Warner Bros. Discovery, WBD for short, about a possible deal last year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Two people granted anonymity to speak freely for this story confirmed that Diller made repeated approaches to WBD and said he remains interested in CNN.
Other billionaires and media investors have also explored potential paths to acquire CNN in recent years.
However, there are several reasons why WBD has not parted ways with the news network.
For one, CNN is a cornerstone of the parent company’s lucrative carriage deals with cable and satellite distributors, which also cover channels like TNT and the Food Network.
WBD is currently in the process of splitting into two publicly traded pieces: Warner Bros., which will house the eponymous movie studio and HBO, and Discovery Global, which will house CNN and other channels.
“CNN is an incredibly important part of the future of Discovery Global once it separates from Warner Bros. CNN was not and is not for sale,” a WBD spokesperson said in response to the Journal report.
But that hasn’t stopped suitors from calling. As one person involved in the matter said, “There’s nothing new about people being interested in the premier global news network, but there’s no good reason to sell CNN.”
Diller’s interest, though, may be relevant to the ongoing Wall Street debate over Discovery Global’s future valuation.
Once the WBD split takes effect this summer, Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros for $27.75 per share. Discovery Global would trade separately.
But Paramount has offered $30 per share for all of WBD, including CNN and the other channels. The WBD board has rejected Paramount’s hostile takeover push, arguing that the Netflix deal is superior. Among the reasons: The Netflix deal will let shareholders “realize the value of Discovery Global’s iconic brands and global reach.”
Paramount has argued that Discovery Global would have little to no equity value. WBD has rejected that and argued that Discovery Global could go for up to $6.86 per share in an acquisition.
A recent financial filing by WBD showed that CNN is expected to make $1.8 billion in revenue this year and post $600 million in profit.
The Journal did not specify how much Diller offered for the news network. But the report on Diller’s interest could ratchet up the overall valuation talk for Discovery Global.
Diller, 83, is the chairman of IAC, a media holding company that controls People, The Daily Beast and dozens of other brands.
His inquiry about CNN did not reach the WBD board of directors level last year, one of the people involved in the matter said.
The person also noted that any such sale would have undesirable tax consequences for WBD.
There may be practical political considerations, as well. Diller is a longtime critic of President Donald Trump and a prominent Democratic donor — exactly the kind of person Trump doesn’t want owning CNN.
The president said in December, shortly after Netflix signed the deal for Warner Bros, that “I think the people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace. I think it’s imperative that CNN be sold.”
At the time, his comments implied he favored Paramount’s hostile takeover bid, though he bashed Paramount later in the month as well.
A media executive said an attempted Diller-led takeover of CNN would be a non-starter because “everybody understands that M&A goes through the Oval Office right now.”
Diller did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday night. An IAC spokesperson declined to comment.
In an interview last year timed to the release of his memoir, “Who Knew,” Diller expressed confidence in CNN’s future as a business.
“What is the future of television?” host Fareed Zakaria asked. “Is CNN going to exist?”
“Unless idiots truly come to operate it, of course, it will exist,” Diller quipped in response.
“It is — I think it — it’s absolutely the only institutional news brand worldwide that I think actually has a future because it is video,” Diller said. “It just needs now to figure out a digital kind of footprint for the video.”
Late last year, CNN launched a streaming subscription called All Access, targeting cable cord-cutters and people who primarily consume news on their phones.
CNN said in a press release this week that it exceeded “its subscription goals for 2025 and is off to a strong start in 2026.”
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