Poland opens review of Paramount Skydance takeover affecting TVN owner

Ministry opens review

On Tuesday, 6 October, the Ministry of State Assets led by Wojciech Balczun announced that it will assess the global takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance, because TVN is on the list of firms protected under the act on the control of certain investments. The ministry will check whether the change of ownership threatens security or public order in Poland. Balczun said the ministry had not yet received a notification from Paramount Skydance about taking control of TVN. Under an amended regulation, the ministry is the control body for TVN, so the decision on how to respond rests with the minister.

The deal and Skydance

Reports put the value of the transaction at over 111 billion dollars, with one outlet citing 110 billion. The combined group will bring together CNN, HBO, Warner Bros., CBS and Channel 5 in Britain with TVN and TVN24 in Poland under the new name Skydance. The group began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, and its shares fell 8% on the second day of trading. Rzeczpospolita puts its market capitalisation at over 43 billion dollars, against debt reaching 80 billion dollars, and the company has promised savings of 6 billion dollars. David Ellison now heads Skydance. The Ellisons are viewed as supporters of Donald Trump, and in the United States they were required to set up a board overseeing the independence of CNN and CBS, a body that has not been mentioned in Poland.

Two possible outcomes

Przemysław Kuk, communications director at the ministry, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that the administrative procedure can end in one of two ways. Either the minister finds that the transaction has no effect on security and public order, or he issues a decision declaring that the existing shareholder of TVN SA may not exercise its shareholder rights, ordering the sale of TVN SA shares by a set deadline. Asked about the matter on Kanał Zero, Balczun described the procedure as routine.

But nobody here is saying that anyone is posing a threat.

Balczun added that the ministry has a fixed period in which to act.

We have ninety days, and after those ninety days an administrative decision will be taken.

Political reaction

Adam Bielan, a PiS member of the European Parliament, mocked the review in an interview with Wirtualna Polska.

We live in an atmosphere of absurdity. It is Monty Python. The takeover, the merger of two American companies, has already happened.

Bielan argued that the Dutch subsidiary that owns TVN does not change its structure, so the deal has already taken place at the level of the American parent companies. He said the ministry's move suited a Saturday Night Live sketch better than a serious policy. In December 2024, when TVN and Polsat were placed on the list of strategic firms, Donald Tusk said that such companies could not be acquired or bought without government consent.

We do not want private companies to end up in the hands of enemies of the Polish state.

Hanna Karp, deputy chair of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), said the regulator had not been consulted.

Nobody from the ministry or the government consulted us on these actions at any stage.

Karp also noted that regulators and EU institutions had ultimately given a positive opinion on the transaction. TVN was formally up for sale in 2024, when media reported interest from a Hungarian businessman linked to then Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.