On Sunday, Skydance and Shari Redstone reached a deal to have Dave Ellison’s media major take over National Amusements, Redstone’s holding company that anchors her controlling shareholder interest in Paramount. Jeff Shell will serve as President of the reworked company, with Ellison as CEO.
Some key take aways from Monday’s investor call:
- Skydance executives, assisted by consulting firm Bain & Co., have identified $2 billion in potential cost cuts at Paramount.
- Ellison envisions combining Skydance Animation with the Paramount-owned Nickelodeon brand and merging its sports documentary division with CBS Sports (“Sports is the foundation of our business,” said Shell.)
- On linear media, Shell said, “We don’t think it’s going to worsen, but we don’t think it’s going to get better either.” The new leadership will be willing to sell off non-strategic assets.
- Paramount+ will receive a technology overhaul; Shell and Ellison believe streaming offerings will continue to move toward multi-service bundles.
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As a result of the news, Paramount Global’s stock fell 5% on Monday as investors learned about the details of the company’s merger agreement with Skydance. The companies are targeting a closing of the deal in the third quarter of 2025.
[Source: Variety]
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