Barry Diller offers to buy CNN 'tonight' to save news network

• Media mogul Barry Diller signals readiness to purchase CNN amid ownership changes.
• Diller criticises current management and calls for urgent investment in on-air programming.
• Paramount's pending merger with Warner Bros. Discovery threatens further corporate staff cuts.
  

Media veteran Barry Diller has declared his firm interest in acquiring CNN, suggesting he would move to purchase the news organisation "tonight" to preserve its legacy.

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, the IAC chairman offered a blunt assessment of the network's current trajectory.

"Absolutely, I would do it tonight and tomorrow night," Diller stated when questioned about a potential bid.

He expressed a sense of urgency regarding the brand's stability, adding, "Before they ruin it any further. Hopefully, before it’s extinct, which, I mean, it’s not gonna be."

While Diller acknowledged that CNN has successfully transitioned into a digital property, he argued that the network is "so ripe" for innovation, specifically regarding its on-air programming, which he believes requires significant new investment.

The network is currently under the umbrella of Warner Bros. Discovery, which is facing a transformative $81 billion merger with Paramount.

Diller warned that if this deal is finalised, the subsequent integration would likely result in a "savage process" of redundancies and cost-cutting.

Diller is no stranger to such corporate shifts; his own firm, Interactive Corp (IAC), is currently rebranding as People Inc. and undergoing its own restructuring.

In a staff memo dated April 28, Diller confirmed that transitioning staff would "significantly reduce our overhead," with expected savings of $40 million.

Despite these internal changes, Diller remains committed to his role as an "instigator" in the media landscape, while continuing to oversee substantial investments in MGM.