Who owns CNN and who owns Fox are two related but distinct questions, because they involve different corporate groups, regulatory histories, and strategic directions. Understanding ownership is important for anyone assessing media concentration, political influence, or the business models behind global news. This overview focuses on accurate, verifiable information from corporate filings, investor documents and regulatory records, and highlights points relevant to UK and South African audiences.
Ownership of CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is not a standalone company. It is a brand and business unit within a larger US-based media conglomerate.
CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker “WBD”. This ownership structure arose from a major corporate merger completed in April 2022, when AT&T’s WarnerMedia business (which included CNN) combined with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery. This transaction is described in Warner Bros. Discovery’s investor communications and regulatory filings, including its merger announcements and Form 10-K reports available to investors and the public via the company’s investor relations website and the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR database.
Before this merger, CNN was part of Time Warner, which was then acquired by AT&T and rebranded as WarnerMedia. After the 2022 deal, AT&T no longer controls CNN; instead, CNN now sits inside Warner Bros. Discovery’s “Networks” and “Studios” business groupings, depending on the specific channel or production unit. Warner Bros. Discovery itself is not controlled by a single individual owner in the way a private company would be; it is owned by its shareholders.
The largest shareholders in Warner Bros. Discovery include institutional investors such as major asset managers and funds. These stakes can be verified through publicly available shareholding disclosures and beneficial ownership reports filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and summarised on recognised business information platforms that track large institutional holdings. Because shareholdings in a public company can change frequently, any list of top shareholders represents a snapshot in time rather than a permanent situation.
However, one shareholder has particular influence: Advance/Newhouse Programming Partnership, an entity associated with Advance Publications (linked to the Newhouse family). In the merger that created Warner Bros. Discovery, this shareholder received a significant stake with special governance rights. Company disclosures and merger documents make clear that this stake gives Advance particular board representation and influence, but it still does not amount to 100% ownership; it is a large minority position in a widely held public company.
For UK and South African audiences, CNN’s local presence usually comes through distribution and licensing. In the UK, CNN International has historically been carried on pay-TV platforms and, more recently, through streaming services or apps, subject to local carriage agreements. Those agreements affect availability but do not change ownership: editorial control and ultimate corporate ownership remain with Warner Bros. Discovery in the United States. In South Africa and wider sub‑Saharan Africa, CNN International is commonly distributed via pay-TV operators such as MultiChoice’s DStv platform under commercial agreements. Again, these are distribution arrangements; they do not confer ownership of CNN itself.
If someone searches “who owns CNN and Fox” from a UK or South African perspective, the short factual answer is that CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a US‑listed media group with a broad portfolio of entertainment, news and sports channels, including CNN, HBO, Discovery‑branded channels and others, as described in Warner Bros. Discovery’s official corporate profile and filings.
Ownership of Fox
“Fox” is a brand used by multiple entities, so it is important to distinguish among them when asking who owns Fox.
The primary owner behind the main Fox-branded media business in the United States is Fox Corporation. Fox Corporation is also a publicly traded company, listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker “FOX” (and “FOXA” for the class A shares). According to Fox Corporation’s own corporate information and its filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company runs businesses including:
• Fox News Media (which includes Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network)
• Fox Sports
• Fox Entertainment (including the Fox broadcast network in the US)
• Tubi, a streaming service
Fox Corporation was formed after The Walt Disney Company acquired most of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets in a large transaction completed in 2019. As part of that deal, the Murdoch family retained control of certain assets, including the Fox broadcast network, Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, which were placed into the new Fox Corporation. That post‑transaction structure is explained in official deal documentation and Fox Corporation’s own history summaries.
Ownership of Fox Corporation is split between public shareholders, but the Murdoch family exercises substantial influence through a family trust. Regulatory filings and corporate governance disclosures show that the Murdoch Family Trust holds a controlling stake in Fox Corporation’s voting shares, giving it effective control over key strategic decisions. Rupert Murdoch has historically been the most prominent figure associated with this structure, and his family members hold important positions in the governance of Fox Corporation, as documented in the company’s proxy statements and corporate governance materials available to investors.
Thus, when people ask who owns Fox News, the accurate, corporate answer is that Fox News is owned by Fox Corporation, and Fox Corporation is controlled by the Murdoch Family Trust, even though many other investors hold non‑controlling stakes through the public markets.
From a UK standpoint, Fox News Channel is no longer widely distributed on traditional UK pay‑TV platforms. Historically, Sky carried Fox News in the UK, but carriage ended in 2017. Current availability may be via online streaming and apps, but this does not affect the underlying ownership: Fox News remains a business of Fox Corporation in the US. The UK broadcasting landscape is separately regulated by Ofcom, and Fox-branded UK broadcast entities are either absent or structured differently following regulatory and commercial changes, including the sale of Sky to Comcast.
In South Africa, Fox News Channel has generally not had the same level of carriage as CNN International or certain other international channels. Instead, the Fox brand in South Africa has most recently been associated with entertainment channels rather than Fox News itself. These entertainment channels have been subject to corporate changes following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets. Where Fox-branded entertainment channels in South Africa have been rebranded or closed, those changes reflected Disney’s global strategy rather than Fox Corporation’s, demonstrating that “Fox” in entertainment and “Fox” in news can refer to different corporate owners.
Comparing the ownership of CNN and Fox
For anyone searching specifically for “who owns CNN and Fox”, it is useful to compare the two ownership structures:
• CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a US-based, publicly traded media conglomerate formed by the merger of AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. Corporate control is dispersed among institutional and individual shareholders, with certain significant holders such as the Advance/Newhouse entities, but no single family holds 100% ownership.
• Fox News Channel (often simply called “Fox” in everyday conversation) is owned by Fox Corporation, another US-based, publicly traded company. However, Fox Corporation is effectively controlled by the Murdoch Family Trust, which holds a controlling interest in voting shares, giving the Murdoch family substantial influence over the company’s direction.
In both cases, ownership is corporate and primarily US‑based, even though the channels have global reach and are available in the UK, South Africa and other markets through distribution deals, licensing, and digital platforms. The editorial lines of CNN and Fox News are strongly associated with their US operations and regulatory frameworks, rather than with UK Ofcom rules (except where specific local channels or feeds fall under UK regulation) or South African communications legislation.
Corporate contact details and public information
Corporate contact details for both Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corporation are provided on their official investor relations and corporate websites. These typically include registered office addresses for their US headquarters and investor contact emails. For UK or South Africa specifically, local offices may exist for advertising sales or distribution, but many such local‑office contact details are channelled through regional sales representatives or media agencies rather than easily searchable central directories. Where a single, specific local contact for CNN or Fox in the UK or South Africa is sought, no public contact details found that are universally applicable across both markets; users are generally directed to the parent companies’ global contact or investor relations pages.
Summary
CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., a US-based public company created through the combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery, with ownership spread among global shareholders and significant but not absolute influence from certain large investors. Fox News Channel is owned by Fox Corporation, another US public company, but one that is effectively controlled by the Murdoch Family Trust. For UK and South African viewers, these channels arrive via local carriage and streaming arrangements, but ultimate ownership remains with their respective US parent corporations.