Exclusive | Paramounts David Ellison weighs moving CBS News out of NYC in battle with AGs Rob Bonta, Letitia James: sources

Paramount boss David Ellison is considering moving CBS News out of the Big Apple as his legal battle with New York and California’s attorneys general is heating up, The Post has learned.One point of leverage for Ellison is potentially moving his news operations out of New York City as California AG Rob Bonta leads a coalition of 12 lefty states in an effort to block Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros.Discovery, people close to Paramount told The Post on Wednesday.Pulling CBS News from the city would mark a seismic change to the local media landscape — and the idea comes as Paramount’s board has approved a plan to move the Hollywood studio out of California if Bonta doesn’t agree to settlement talks.“The real negotiation is how much he will move out of California and New York of his current operations.

If it involves a lot of production, that’s a lot of jobs,” a source told The Post.The person, a media executive with knowledge of Paramount’s intentions, said Ellison could move all his news operations to Atlanta, where CNN is headquartered, in anticipation of eventually winning the legal row with the state AGs — even if the case reaches the Supreme Court.Another source close to the company described the possible moves as “contingency plans.”CBS News’ broadcast center could fetch the billionaire Ellison family a “couple of billion dollars,” the source added.Paramount insiders believe Bonta wants a spin-off of CNN, a Warner Bros.

asset, before any deal is pushed through – though Ellison isn’t willing to do that as of now.But people inside Paramount are still optimistic that the company will be able to reach a settlement with Bonta, whom Ellison wants to come to the table by Oct.1.

Under the terms of its deal with WBD, from that date onward, Paramount would have to cough up a painful $7 million per day until the merger is completed.No formal talks are now taking place, and the two sides remain at odds over possible co...