Ellison previews how a single tech stack and aggressive content spending could boost cash flow while managing sizeable debt
The chief executive of Paramount outlined a sweeping efficiency plan tied to the proposed combination with Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing the financial benefits will surpass earlier forecasts. At a recent industry gathering, he said that savings from the Skydance-Paramount integration will significantly exceed $3 billion and that roughly $2.5 billion should materialize by the end of this year. He also described an active program to consolidate streaming services — a move he believes will unlock further operational gains.
Those remarks were delivered at the FII Priority Summit in a conversation that the company later made part of its public record through an SEC filing. The CEO emphasized that much of the near-term efficiency will come from rationalizing technology and platforms, a recurring theme in discussions about media mergers where duplicate systems are both costly and cumbersome.
Paramount is working to collapse multiple streaming infrastructures into a single, shared environment — a process the CEO described as converging Paramount+, BET+ and Pluto onto one technology foundation. He used the term tech stack to capture the full set of components — from application code to hosting and data layers — and called out how maintaining several parallel stacks creates needless expense. The goal is to complete that transition in the second quarter of this year, which management expects will materially reduce duplicative spend and simplify product operations.
The CEO pushed back on the notion that cost-cutting and growth are mutually exclusive, pointing to an expanded film and programming slate since Skydance’s investment. He noted the studio moved from an eight-film slate to a 16-film theatrical lineup this year, green-lit 11 series to build Paramount+, and added major sports rights like the UFC and the UEFA Champions League. Those moves, he argued, demonstrate a simultaneous focus on top-line growth and operating discipline rather than pure retrenchment, with the combined company planning substantial content spend as part of its growth strategy.
Looking at the proposed tie-up’s financial profile, management forecasts a large combined enterprise with about $69 billion in revenue, roughly $18 billion of EBITDA, and in excess of $10 billion in cash flow, while continuing to invest north of $30 billion on content. At the same time, the potential combined company will carry heavy obligations, with an estimated $80 billion in debt to service — a figure that has made many observers uneasy. The CEO framed the situation as manageable but acknowledged the scale of the financial commitments.
Throughout his remarks the chief executive highlighted the benefits of being an owner-operator: he noted that Skydance and his partners are among the largest shareholders of both Skydance and Paramount and will hold a leading stake in the merged Paramount-Warner entity. That alignment, he said, encourages decisions made with a multiyear horizon rather than a quarter-by-quarter focus. The public conversation took place in a friendly forum with investor Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital, and the company later published a transcript tied to the event in an SEC filing.
The CEO also spoke about technology beyond infrastructure, describing artificial intelligence as a powerful enabler for creative teams. He suggested that tools built on AI and modern GPU pipelines will let filmmakers and showrunners iterate far more rapidly — testing versions of projects multiple times to refine storytelling — a process he linked to a well-known entertainment industry mantra about failing quickly in pursuit of better work. In this view, model-based pipelines would allow more audience feedback loops and therefore higher-quality output.
The companies have signaled their expected cadence for closing the transaction, with management saying the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition should wrap up in the third quarter. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery are scheduled to consider the merger at a special meeting on April 23, a concrete milestone in the regulatory and approval timeline. The CEO reiterated confidence that the combination will both reduce costs and create opportunities to expand distribution and content revenues once regulatory and shareholder approvals are secured.