Ellison’s CNN Orientation

On Thursday morning, shortly after ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, David Ellison and his leadership team headed to Manhattan’s West Side for a tour of the sprawling Hudson Yards offices they had just inherited from Warner Bros. Discovery. But the visit was about far more than surveying the shiny new real estate now under their control after Skydance’s blockbuster acquisition of the media conglomerate. “This was about seeing CNN,” a person familiar with the matter told Status.

Indeed, I’m told that CNN chief Mark Thompson had invited Ellison & Co. to the network’s headquarters for a meeting to further brief the new ownership team on the news organization’s plans for the future. And so, on Thursday morning, Ellison and his top lieutenants gathered on the 18th floor of CNN’s offices for a sit-down with Thompson and his deputies, including chief operating officer Alex MacCallum, Executive Editor Virginia Moseley, head of talent Amy Entelis, and head of programming Eric Sherling. But, amid the parade of powerful executives descending on Hudson Yards, one conspicuous absence did not go unnoticed: CBS News chief Bari Weiss.