Skydance has laid out plans to deliver $6 billion in cost savings from its takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, and said it will launch a streaming bundle combining HBO Max and Paramount+ early next year.
The deal created one of the world’s largest entertainment and news companies, bringing together the Warner Bros and Paramount studios, the CBS broadcast network, CNN and a host of cable channels under the Skydance name. It is led by chief executive David Ellison and co-chief executive Ynon Kreiz.
In its first quarterly earnings statement since the takeover, the company said it would give full-year guidance for the combined business when it reports results for the December quarter. For the Paramount business alone, revenue rose 5 per cent to $7 billion in the quarter to the end of September, before the purchase of Warner Bros Discovery was completed last month.
Streaming is set to be the main engine of growth for the new group. Paramount+ revenue jumped 21 per cent in the quarter, and together with premium cable channel HBO and the HBO Max streamer, the services reach 203 million subscribers around the world. Skydance said it would stop disclosing quarterly subscriber numbers, following Netflix’s lead as the industry shifts its focus to profitability and engagement rather than raw subscriber counts.
Ellison and Kreiz told shareholders they are confident of reaching the $6 billion in promised savings over three years, with 30 per cent of the total expected in the first year. At least $2.2 billion is to come from corporate overhead and real estate, $1 billion — a fifth — from marketing costs, and about $1.4 billion from cutting technology spending.
The Warner Bros acquisition has left the company with $87 billion of gross debt and about $10 billion in cash, and its leaders are under pressure to make the integration work. The group faces competition from Netflix, Walt Disney and other media giants, as well as YouTube and TikTok, which are drawing ever more audience attention.
Skydance also announced sweeping executive changes earlier on Monday. James Gunn and Peter Safran stepped down as heads of DC Studios and were replaced by Marvel veteran Jeremy Latcham as president and chief creative officer. Gunn and Safran will return to creative work at the company.
The company warned that underperformance of Warner Bros’ film slate would hit fourth-quarter profit by up to $200 million. Tom Cruise’s latest film, the Warner Bros big-budget dark comedy “Digger”, has struggled at the box office, finishing fifth on US and Canadian charts in its opening weekend in October.
Sources: Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/skydance-details-cost-cuts-sets-streaming-bundle-early-next-year-2026-11-09/
