Episode summary
Paramount Names Skydance Leadership as Merger Set to Close | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Hannah Miller
Summary
Paramount Skydance has outlined the leadership team for the new company as the merger approaches its expected close on Tuesday. The merged business will operate as Skydance, with David Ellison remaining CEO and chairman while Ynon Kreiz, the former Mattel chief, serves as co-CEO focused on day-to-day management. Andy Gordon will be president and Dennis Cinelli will stay on as CFO, while streaming operations will be a major focus under Casey Bloys, who is expected to oversee that area.
Hannah Miller said the structure reflects Ellison’s aim to combine creative leadership with business execution, and she pointed to Kreiz’s experience with the Barbie movie as a sign he understands the value of intellectual property. She also noted that employees are anxious, with Ellison targeting $6 billion in post-merger cost efficiencies and major changes likely to follow.
On the news side, Mark Thompson will stay on at CNN and Barry Weiss will continue overseeing CBS News. Hannah Miller said the company is creating an independent editorial board under the settlement with 12 state attorneys general, but details are still unclear. Investors are watching the heavy debt load, the need to invest in content and technology, and a requirement to produce 30 theatrical films a year or face penalties.
Key takeaways
- Hannah Miller said David Ellison will remain CEO and chairman, while Ynon Kreiz will handle day-to-day management as co-CEO.
- The merged company will operate as Skydance, and streaming is a priority with Casey Bloys overseeing that business.
- Ellison is targeting $6 billion in post-merger cost efficiencies, leaving employees worried about job cuts.
- The company must produce 30 theatrical films a year under the settlement, or it faces a financial penalty.
- Hannah Miller said CNN and CBS News will have separate leaders, plus an independent editorial board.
- Analysts remain divided on whether the company can hit its content goals without sacrificing quality.
Notable quotes
“the closing is h is going to happen probably. Tomorrow is a big day”
“the name of the merged company um when Paramount and Warner Brothers combine”
“David Ellison wants to create more content. This is a huge goal for him”
“David Ellison is eyeing$6 billion dollars worth of cost efficiencies post merger”
“there can be no more than two journalists on the board of the same political affiliation”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts, radio news. — You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio.
Uh, one story that constantly keeps creeping back into market uh, news, market stories, also just business stories, media stories, and that is Paramount Sky Dance. And apparently it has outlined the executive leadership team that will helm the new company resulting from its acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery. It's amazing.
Just about a year or so ago, all of this started and here we are. Um, this is supposed to happen after the expected uh closing on Tuesday. Reporting it out for us is Bloomberg News media reporter.
She is Hannah Miller. She joins us here in her Bloomberg Interactive Broker studio. Are we like there?
Almost there. — Almost. — We're almost there. Yes. the closing is h is going to happen probably. — Tomorrow is a big day. — All right. So, walk us through kind of then because there's been stuff we've been hearing about leadership and so on and so forth. What did you find out?
Yeah. So, we got a big leadership announcement today kind of outlining the teams that will be overseeing Skyance. That is the name of the merged company um when Paramount and Warner Brothers combine. Um and yeah, — So they're gone. Paramount Warner Brothers gone.
It's the studios now, you know. So they're they're still preserving some of that brand identity with the studio names. But yeah, overall the company is Sky Dance. That was the name of David Ellison who CEO. Um that was the name of his media production company when he got started in Hollywood.
So I mean you talked about the pretty sprawling leadership team. — Who are the most important people that we need to know?
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- media mergers
- executive leadership
- hollywood studios
- corporate governance
- mattel transition
Companies and tickers mentioned
- MAT
- Paramount Skydance Corp.
- Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.
- Skydance
- Mattel Inc.
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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