David Ellison wasted no time putting his stamp on Paramount

David Ellison is doing his promise well.

As the newly merged CEO and chairman, he has been in office for more than a month. Paramount SkydanceEllison quickly moved to sign creative and C-Sweet talent, sign a new Greenlight franchise and sign a billion-dollar deal for the right to bring sports in favour of the company’s streaming services.

Ellison laid out the strategy in an open letter released in early August. Paramount “We will invest in high-quality storytelling and cutting-edge technology to help define the ‘next era of entertainment’.

The next era includes the acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. On Thursday, CNBC reported that Paramount Skydance was working with investment banks to make an offer to the company. The deal will likely be expensive, but it will secure Ellison’s media empire.

“They are obviously a much-needed reconstruction mode, but this requires time and a significant amount of investment,” said Jessica Ehric, analyst at Bank of America. “Paramount has been literally starving and literally starving for a long time under some previous management teams. So there will probably be a period of deep investment in content.”

Paramount eventually merged with SkyDance in early August. This is a union that has been delayed more than a year as the Federal Communications Commission began an investigation into alleged news distortions at Paramount’s subsidiary CBS.

The union was approved less than a month after Paramount agreed to pay President Donald Trump $16 million and resolved the lawsuit filed against the company over compiling a “60-minute” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.

It also happened the week when CBS announced it was cancelling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” At the time, Paramount and CBS executives issued a statement saying that the cancellation was a “pure financial decision against a challenging late-night background.”

Ellison ran and hit the ground. Within just a few weeks of the merger closure, he announced a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal to Paramount the exclusive US home of TKO Group’s UFC mixed martial arts organization from 2026. The contract means that the UFC will stop the pay-per-view model, and events will be available directly for parameters + subscribers and sometimes CBS. In particular, the deal was almost as expensive as the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance.

Companies are already trading for many major leagues for broadcast and streaming, so sports rights will be less for the next few years. apple Already expected to be home to Formula 1, Major League Baseball is waiting until deals expire to reorganize the media package after the 2028 season. This means that it is unlikely that many other top shelf sports assets available in the market will be available for Paramount to acquire the near future.

“The UFC is a unicorn asset that appears once every 10 years,” Ellison said in a statement at the time. He described himself as a UFC fan.

The UFC is a desirable asset as the events take place all year round. This means fans continue to pay for monthly subscriptions and have fewer incentives to cancel seasonally than other sports. There are 43 live events each year, and it consists of 350 hours of live programming. Paramount is interested in combining the UFC’s international rights with US rights.

“They are trying to change the story, and UFC trading is the only big splash,” said Robert Fishman, analyst at Moffettnathanson.

And Paramount+ is not the only division of Paramount. Ellison has secured the right to develop, produce and distribute live-action films based on Activision’s Call of Duty Video Game franchise.

Call of Duty is the best-selling video game series in the US for the 16th consecutive year, with over 500 million copies sold worldwide, the company said.

When it was announced, Ellison can promise to be determined on our mission to provide a cinematic experience that celebrates the legacy of this one in a million brands,” he said he is a “lifelong fan” of the first person shooter video game series, recording countless times playing the game.

For decades, studios have been trying to capitalize on the financial success and cultural relevance of video games, but things have only been clicked in the past few years. Paramount has already transformed Sega’s Sonic into a $1 billion movie franchise and will also distribute a new Street Fighter adaptation as part of a three-year distribution agreement with the legend.

The legend is neither the stranger nor the video game franchise that co-produced Warner Bros. “Minecraft Movie” and “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.” In particular, the third dune film scheduled for 2026 and the new Godzilla and King Kong film scheduled for 2027 are not part of the most important contract; Warner Bros Discovery.

Paramount will also lead the creative team of Matt and Ross Duffer, known in the industry as the Duffer brothers, to fold in mid-2026. The duo is best known for being masterminds Netflix’s The hit “Stranger Things” signed a four-year exclusive agreement on feature films, television and streaming projects.

The financial conditions for the transaction have not been disclosed. Hilary Leavitt, producer partner of Duffer Brothers, will also be taking part in developing projects for Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television and Paramount’s direct consumer business.

On Wednesday, the company announced it had hired Dane Glasgow, who previously worked for him. Meta, GoogleeBay and Microsoftas Paramount’s Chief Product Officer. The company said the appointment highlights its commitment to technology development, along with the entertainment content push.

Bank of America’s Erich noted that it will take years for Paramount to increase production. The number of releases from the studio is expected to double. However, there may not be any noticeable financial differences immediately from these changes, and in the meantime, these investments are likely to put pressure on inventory, she said.

Of course, if Paramount proceeds with a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, the company’s slate could be even bigger when CNBC’s David Faber reports next week. Bringing the Warner Bros discovery to the fold will not only add major franchises such as DC Superhero, Sonic the Hedgehog, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones to Paramount’s collection, but also add laundry lists for sports rights such as National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and NASCAR.

Analysts look forward to Paramount’s November revenue report, where Ellison is expected to address more deeply with the new company’s strategy. This includes Paramount’s cost-cutting measures aimed at stealing $2 billion from conglomerates amid the loss of advertising and the industry-wide struggle with traditional cable networks.

During the company’s second quarter revenue call this year, interim chief financial officer Andrew Warren said it was “inappropriate” to outline financial expectations for the full year 2025 amid the Skydance transition.

“With the economics of business changing, the question is how they are pivoting their new company to match the reality of the ecosystem they work in,” Fishman said.

Variety reported last month that the company is expected to fire between 2,000 and 3,000 employees. These cuts are expected to take place by early November, Variety reported.

Earlier this month, Ellison announced that Paramount would require employees to work in the office five days a week starting next year, with employees who do not want that transition have been offered shopping. This move will help companies thin their flock ahead of these looming staffing cuts.

“David Ellison’s youth and he has a long-term perspective,” Ehrlich said. “This is clearly a long-term strategy, in contrast to previous management teams that had a very, very, very short-term focus.”