David Ellison has wasted no time putting his stamp on Paramount

David Ellison is making good on his guarantees.

A bit of greater than a month into his tenure because the CEO and chairman of the newly merged Paramount Skydance, Ellison has moved shortly to signal artistic and C-suite expertise, greenlight new franchises, and strike a billion-dollar deal for the rights to convey a profitable sport to the corporate’s streaming service.

Ellison laid out the technique in an open letter printed in early August, when he advised buyers that Paramount would spend money on “high-quality storytelling and cutting-edge technology” to assist “define the next era of entertainment.”

That subsequent period may additionally embody the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. On Thursday, CNBC reported that Paramount Skydance is working with an funding financial institution to make a suggestion for the corporate. The deal would probably be a expensive one, however would safe Ellison’s media empire.

“They are clearly in a very necessary rebuilding mode, but this will take time and a significant amount of investment,” stated Jessica Ehrlich, analyst at Bank of America. “Paramount was starved, literally starved, for so long under the previous several management teams. So, there’s going to be probably a prolonged period of deep investment in content.”

The union was authorized lower than a month after Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to President Donald Trump to settle a lawsuit he filed towards the corporate over the enhancing of a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.

It additionally occurred the week after CBS introduced it was canceling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” At the time, Paramount and CBS executives launched a press release saying the cancellation was “purely a financial decision against the challenging backdrop in late night.”

Ellison hit the bottom working. Within just some weeks of the merger closing, he introduced a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal to make Paramount the unique U.S. residence for TKO Group’s UFC blended martial arts group beginning in 2026. The settlement means UFC will cease its pay-per-view mannequin and occasions shall be obtainable on to Paramount+ subscribers and, in some instances on CBS. Notably, this deal was practically as costly because the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance.

Sports rights shall be scarce within the coming years, as corporations have already struck offers for broadcast and streaming for a lot of main leagues. Apple is already anticipated to be the house of Formula 1, and Major League Baseball is ready till its offers expire after the 2028 season to reorganize its media packages. That means it is unlikely there shall be many different top-shelf sports activities property obtainable within the market for Paramount to accumulate within the close to time period.

“UFC is a unicorn asset that comes up about once a decade,” Ellison stated in a press release on the time. He described himself as a UFC fan.

UFC is a fascinating asset as a result of occasions happen year-round, that means followers will hold paying for month-to-month subscriptions and have much less incentive to cancel seasonally than they do with different sports activities. There are 43 stay occasions yearly, consisting of 350 hours of stay programming. Paramount is excited by shopping for UFC’s worldwide rights to pair with U.S. rights.

“They’re looking to change the narrative, and the UFC deal alone is a big splash,” stated Robert Fishman, analyst at MoffettNathanson.

And Paramount+ is not the one division of Paramount getting new content material from huge franchises. Ellison secured the rights to develop, produce and distribute a live-action function movie based mostly on Activision’s Call of Duty video game franchise.

Call of Duty has been the bestselling online game collection within the U.S. for 16 consecutive years, with greater than 500 million copies offered globally, the businesses stated.

“I can promise that we are resolute in our mission to deliver a cinematic experience that honors the legacy of this one-in-a-million brand,” Ellison stated when it was introduced, noting that he’s a “lifelong fan” of the first-person shooter online game collection, having logged numerous hours taking part in the video games.

For many years, studios have tried to capitalize on the monetary success and cultural relevance of video video games, but it surely’s solely been within the past few years that things have clicked. Paramount has already turned Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog right into a billion-dollar film franchise and also will distribute a brand new Street Fighter adaptation as a part of a three-year distribution deal with Legendary.

Legendary can also be no stranger to online game franchises, having co-produced Warner Bros.’ “A Minecraft Movie,” and “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.” Notably, the third Dune movie due out in 2026 and a brand new Godzilla and King Kong movie slated for 2027 will not be a part of the Paramount distribution deal and shall be distributed by Warner Bros. Discovery.

Paramount may also convey the artistic staff of Matt and Ross Duffer, identified within the trade because the Duffer Brothers, into the fold in mid-2026. The duo, greatest identified for being the masterminds behind Netflix’s hit “Stranger Things,” signed an exclusive four-year agreement for function movies, tv and streaming initiatives.

Financial phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed. The Duffer Brother’s producing companion Hilary Leavitt may also be on board to develop initiatives for Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television and Paramount direct-to-consumer.

On Wednesday, the corporate introduced it employed Dane Glasgow, who beforehand labored at Meta, Google, eBay and Microsoft, as Paramount’s chief product officer. The firm stated the appointment underscores its dedication to technological improvement alongside its leisure content material push.

Analysts are trying ahead to Paramount’s November earnings report, when Ellison is predicted to handle the brand new firm’s technique in additional depth. This consists of Paramount’s cost-cutting measures, by which it’s trying to take $2 billion out of the conglomerate amid promoting losses and industrywide struggles with conventional cable networks.

During the corporate’s second-quarter earnings this yr, Andrew Warren, the interim chief monetary officer, famous that “it would be inappropriate” for the corporate to stipulate full-year 2025 monetary expectations amid the Skydance transition.

“The economics of the business are changing and so the question is, how are they pivoting their new company to align with the realities of the ecosystem that they’re working in?” Fishman stated.

Variety reported final month that the corporate is predicted to lay off between 2,000 and three,000 staff. These cuts are slated to happen by early November, Variety reported.

Earlier this month, Ellison introduced Paramount can be requiring staff to work within the workplace five days a week beginning subsequent yr and stated staff that didn’t with to make that transition have been supplied buyouts. This transfer may assist the corporate skinny the herd forward of those looming staffing cuts.

“David Ellison’s young and he’s got a long-term point of view,” Ehrlich stated. “This is clearly a long-term strategy, as opposed to prior management teams that had very, very, very short-term focus.”