Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said yesterday that the combined company would be named Skydance, once its ‌merger with Warner Bros Discovery closes next week.

The name was chosen to keep the separate identities of the Paramount and Warner Bros studios intact, rather than putting them under a ⁠new corporate brand, Ellison added, according to a Reuters report.

“We never wanted a new corporate identity to diminish, alter or overshadow either one,” Ellison wrote in a social media post.

“Instead, we wanted a name that would give the combined company an identity of its own while allowing Paramount and Warner Bros — and all ‌our ⁠extraordinary brands — to remain in the spotlight.”

A US judge on Wednesday (Sept. 30) entered an order allowing Paramount Skydance to close its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros ⁠Discovery, ending a months-long holdup.

The order approved a September 21 settlement with a California-led group of 12 ⁠states that had sued to block the merger, arguing it would create a media ⁠giant capable of driving up film and TV prices.

Meanwhile, another Reuters report added that Ellison has asked CNN Chief Executive Mark Thompson to stay at the helm of the cable news network after the acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, ‌ a source familiar with the matter told the news agency on Thursday (Oct. 1).

The two held talks in recent weeks about a new contract that would keep Thompson in the job but have not settled on terms, the source said.

Editorial independence is a priority for Thompson, ⁠who wants guarantees that he would keep wide control over CNN’s journalism, according to the source.

Paramount executives are still deciding how CNN and CBS News will work together once they combine, the source said. CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss is not expected to be involved with CNN after the deal closes, the source added.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news, Reuters has clarified.