Key Points: Paramount-Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday.
David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz will serve as co-CEOs of the combined new company, which will retain the Skydance name.
The new group holds two major film studios, the CBS broadcast network, a large cable television asset portfolio, and the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming platforms.
Just days after Paramount closed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Skydance co-CEO David Ellison said in an interview on Thursday that the merged company is "built to win in every vertical in which we operate."
Skydance's assets include the Paramount and Warner Bros. film studios; the CBS broadcast network; a sprawling cable portfolio spanning CNN, TNT, MTV and BET; and the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services.
"With Paramount and Warner Bros. combined, we will have the strongest content engine," Ellison said. He noted that the company holds major IP as well as powerful sports content assets.
"With HBO Max and Paramount+ combined, the streaming business immediately achieves scale, with more than 200 million global streaming subscribers... plus international Olympics rights, and a highly profitable traditional cable business anchored by CBS."
Ellison will oversee the company's creative direction, technological innovation and long-term strategy, while Kreiz will lead the integration of the two businesses and handle day-to-day management and operations.
Kreiz said: "We have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to build the next-generation global media and entertainment company driven by creativity and technology. Everything David mentioned, we have it all, and we have the capability and the talent. The industry is at an inflection point right now, where reaching consumers and building fandom is getting harder and harder, and our timing is right."
Kreiz has 30 years of experience in the media industry. Ellison, who also serves as chairman of Skydance, has more than 15 years of studio production experience and wants to build Skydance into a creative hub for filmmakers.
The two executives will helm this media giant, and the task is daunting. As part of a settlement agreement with plaintiffs in antitrust litigation, the company has committed to releasing at least 30 films in theaters each year in 2027 and 2028, and at least 32 films a year in 2029, 2030 and 2031.
According to market research firm Rentrak, the combined entity has already scheduled 35 films for release next year.
Ellison also plans to merge the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming platforms.
$6 Billion in Synergies: The acquisition leaves Skydance carrying roughly $80 billion in debt. The company has previously set a target of achieving $6 billion in cost savings over the next three years.
Ellison said: "The room for operating efficiency gains is truly enormous. We studied this deal for more than a year, and we know exactly where every dollar of cost savings will come from."
Kreiz said on Thursday that the savings will come from technology integration, combining marketing operations, real estate optimization and some workforce adjustments.
The acquisition has sparked a great deal of concern both inside the company and among industry observers. Ellison said Skydance has already unified advertising sales across all platforms and is integrating its back-end technology stack.
Kreiz said: "This is not about a few days of stock trading, and it's not just about three years of synergy savings. We are building a company for future generations. Layoffs are part of that, and we have been public about that. But when we make those decisions, we will absolutely take care of our employees, proceed in an appropriate, respectful and transparent way, and disclose our plans at the same time."
CBS and CNN News Divisions: This acquisition also brings two well-known news networks, CBS and CNN, under the same corporate group.
CNN has long been criticized by President Trump, and in recent weeks his administration has further intensified scrutiny of the outlet, after CNN was stripped of some interview access in the White House television media pool.
David Ellison's father is Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who has long had a friendly relationship with Trump. Since Skydance launched its deal to acquire CNN's parent company, there have been persistent concerns that news editorial operations could face improper political interference.
Under the settlement agreement between Skydance and state attorneys general, the company will establish an independent oversight mechanism to supervise CBS and CNN and safeguard editorial independence.
Skydance announced that Mark Thompson will continue as CNN's global chairman and editor-in-chief, and that Barry Weiss will continue as editor-in-chief of CBS News.
Kreiz said on Thursday that the newsrooms will continue to operate independently. "We will keep the two news operations running side by side and maintain editorial independence. We are very fortunate to have these established, highly recognized news brands."
Ellison said the question of the news divisions' future direction should be left to Thompson and Weiss to decide: "Group management will not interfere with editorial content."
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