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Skydance offers voluntary buyouts to some employees
Skydance is offering a one-time voluntary buyout offer to certain employees, as Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merge operations.
Editorial: Company mergers are causing more harm to the entertainment industry than good
Two weeks ago, Paramount officially completed its $110 billion purchase of the historic Warner Bros.
Netflix’s Leadership Shake Up…Explained
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Well, I had a simple article planned for this week. Called “Whoa, I Missed It!”, I’d take a gander at a few important-but-under-the-radar stories I didn’t cover while I wrote about all things “Skydance. (Formerly known as “the saga of Netflix trying to buy Warner Bros., but not Discovery, then Paramount-Skydance bought all of Warner Bros. Discovery”.) Alas, that article will have to wait. Netflix made news. Ironically, my “Whoa, I Missed It!” article would have mostly been about “content” strategy decisions, which is also what today’s article is about. But instead of the entire industry, this article will only cover Netflix’s decision to upend their film and TV content teams. Just that! So that’s the full topic of the day. I’m going to tackle the issue in the opposite direction of the way “stuff” flows: uphill. We’ll start at film, then move onto TV, and then onto the CEOs themselves, and the strategy questions that still remain. But we start with the numbers driving this. Let’s dive in. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Netflix Upends Their Corporate Hierarchy I’ve got a lot of thoughts, but we’ll start with the most common response to yesterday’s article. Let’s Talk Stock Price More than one person, responding to what I published two days ago, pointed out that, well, actually, the thing driving Netflix’s actions is this: In short, stock price! Even if Netflix isn’t obsessed with their own share price—they probably are, but, for the record, my strategic advice to every CEO is to absolutely ignore stock prices, which will, ironically, probably help the stock price long-term—most everyone thinks they are. By the way, I prefer market capitalization to stock prices, because it’s a more apples-to-apples way to compare companies: But there’s an even better way to look at it, and it kinda casts some doubt on the entire push here: price-to-earnings. I have a long list of articles that I wish I had written, and chief among them is an article titled, “Am I Still a Netflix ‘Bear’?” meaning someone who thinks Netflix’s stock is overvalued. As of last summer, Netflix had solved their biggest problem—which for me (circa 2019) was the lack of free cash flow—but their stock was CRAZY overvalued. That’s this chart here: Why did Netflix’s stock price increase to a price-to-earnings ratio of 50 last summer? What financial metric changed so quickly? Nothing. Given that, historically, mature entertainment companies average 10 to 20, with 16 being the average, that increase made little sense. Netflix’s stock swoon these last eight or so months wasn’t irrational; the stock price rise last year was. So if you want a really hot Netflix take, here it is: Netflix’s stock price has been going down because the financial industry recovered its senses, not because of any strategic mistake. Yes, that would imply that cleaning house may have been a mistake. That’s why the charts yesterday are so important, because they show that Netflix did have a strategic problem (a lack of hits) and that’s what they moved to address. (One could also argue the industry drastically overrated Netflix’s growth prospects, but that’s a financial industry problem, not a Netflix strategy problem per se. Some growth estimates are just crazy. *cough* AI *cough*) Now, the last time Netflix’s stock price crashed—circa 2022—it gave them an opening. I’d argue Netflix insiders knew they needed to expand post-COVID-19 crisis, adding advertising, cracking down on password sharing, and dabbling in sports. But if they had done that when their stock price was high, it would give folks a reason to second guess their strategy. (Arguably, last year, when Netflix pursued the Warner Bros. merger, it gave the industry a chance to review their business.) Instead, after the 2022 fall, they had the opening to make strategic changes. We may see Netflix pivot again following this latest slide. For example, the “binge versus weekly” conversation is alive and well again. Same for expanding into theaters even more. And adding both linear channels and streaming bundles. And maybe more either social, user-generated, vertical, or creator content. But the first shift came with who is making the content calls. A Message from Our Sponsor Last winter Pulp Fiction was on Netflix. For those same 90 days, it was also free, with ads, on Pluto TV and the Roku Channel. That is not a glitch, and it is not rare. The title has run on 20 different US streaming services since 2019, across 80 separate windows, and for more than 600 of those days it sat on a paid subscription service and a free ad-supported one at the same time. Almost nobody can see this, because when a title leaves a service, the record that it was ever there tends to leave with it. Reelgood keeps that record, dated to the day rather than the month: 4MM+ movie, show and episode titles across 300+ services globally, with timestamped arrivals, departures and moves across SVOD, AVOD, TVOD and vMVPD. Licensing teams price against every prior window. Rights teams check what a licensee actually delivered, and when. Pick a title you think you know: data.reelgood.com/title-availability Film - Dan Lin Want to know why I don’t opine on individual film or TV executives, especially new hires? Dan Lin. As I always caution, it’s really, really, really tough to predict which executives will succeed in new roles and which won’t. The successful head of co-production/finance partner, Rideback, Lin was considered for the head of DC Studios job before taking the job as the head of Netflix. By all accounts at the time, this was a smart hire. (That’s my read of the news coverage anyways.) But now that Netflix has fired Dan Lin, we got a slew of news stories about how he was doing a terrible job. In sports media, Bryan Curtis, new Substack writer/podcaster from The Ringer, calls this the “now you tell us” story, when you only hear the bad news after a star athlete leaves a sports team. In this case, now they tell us that Dan Lin was bad with talent after he got kicked out the door. So was Dan Lin a flop? It’s actually tough to say. While film moves faster than TV, even two years isn’t really enough time to evaluate a person’s output. The new head hasn’t really taken control. As Emily Horgan noted, it takes much longer than two years to produce animated films, so yeah, it’s definitely too early to judge in that domain. As for live-action films, I just published an article by Brandon Katz called “Netflix’s Summer of Bummer”, but I’d point out Netflix had a bad summer two years ago too. Arguably, their best summer came from KPop Demon Hunters last year and Happy Gilmore 2, the latter of which I saw credited to Lin. Then, the stories came out that Dan Lin clashed with talent, both Ben Affleck and Greta Gerwig, classic “now they tell us” factoids to explain his firing. This may have been true, but also should have been expected given that he was given the mandate to bring budgets back in check, especially after Rebel Moon. So if he made folks upset, well, that’s what he was hired to do! But also, he was described as “well-liked” at his hiring! In that case, I’m a bit sympathetic to Lin, since he may have been undercut by senior leadership, as often happens. Basically, a CEO hires a subordinate to be their “bad cop” and keep budgets in check, but then when talent complains, the CEO ends up undercutting them. That’s how I think you end up with a Narnia movie as expensive as any of the other flops, along with a film executive the town no longer likes. As a result, I think that Netflix is now executing a classic “hire the opposite” move by hiring Peter Rice. This phrase comes from my experience following football and basketball coaching decisions, where teams generally hire the opposite of who they just had. If you have an offense-minded head coach, hire the defensive guy. Or in college football, if you have a strong recruiter, then you pivot to an “X’s and Os” type of guy. Or in pro basketball, if you have a very analytically minded coach, you hire the player-friendly guy. I see that here. After dropping Scott Stuber—arguably a talent-friendly executive with lax budget control—Netflix hired the business guy to keep costs in check. Now Netflix is pivoting back to Peter Rice and presumably a more talent-friendly regime. (Disney, by the way, has done this twice: hiring business guys to succeed talent-friendly Bob Iger. It didn’t work out last time.) When it comes to Peter Rice…we’ll see! Maybe he works out, but maybe he doesn’t. I’d actually say the biggest problem is that Netflix still hasn’t solved its “IP Problem”, in that they don’t own much IP, so they just have a lower hit rate. The new executive won’t solve that. (Though buying Lionsgate would help.) Share “Content” - Bela Bajaria I almost published yesterday’s article after this column, but ended up flipping the order, because it told the story so well. So if you want the data for why Netflix is looking at TV to fix their problems, it’s in that article, this graph in particular: I know I just wrote that it’s often hard to judge executives, but Bajaria ran TV for six years and film for three and a half more. That’s more than enough to judge hit rates, and Netflix needs more hits. That’s the story. Since 2023, Netflix hasn’t had as many hit shows as it used to, and many of its previous power house TV shows have ended their runs (Stranger Things most of all). Also, many shows from 2020 to 2022 probably pre-dated Bajaria’s tenure. (That said, one thing may have been outside of Bajaria’s control, which I explain below.) Let’s lump some content strategy thoughts about Netflix and TV into one place: We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… Why I partially blame Squid Game for Netflix’s latest troubles… What is “the football trap”... Why it might not be the TV shows or films’ fault at all… What change I don’t think Netflix will make... How Bela Bajaria evolved Netflix’s TV strategy in smart ways… Whose departure likely submarined Bajaria’s final few years… One sneaky explanation for Netflix’s content struggles... And a whole lot more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support.
Movie review: 'Clayface' a doomed romance with body horror trappings
In order to find the best comparison to “Clayface” — the new Warner Bros. DC Universe installment — we have to go back to 1990, to Sam Raimi’s “Darkman,” starring
“It: Welcome to Derry” season 2 will be ‘a Warner Bros. gangster picture through the lens of Pennywise’ (exclusive)
Brad Caleb Kane teased what new horrors are coming for the 1930s Bradley Gang plot.
After nearly buying Warner Bros., Netflix is laying off 1,000 workers. What happened?
While Netflix continues to lead subscription streaming services, the company has continued to face growing scrutiny over how it plans to grow the Los Gatos company in the future.
When 1 + 1 = 1: The Miserable Math Behind Many Media Mergers
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) The last few issues of this newsletter have circled two topics: September’s streaming viewership and all the Paramount/Skydance/Warner Bros./Discovery merger news. I’m happy to say on the Streaming Ratings Report front, we’ll be all caught up by early next week, then the SRR will come out on a tight weekly schedule. Then, after today, I’ll have slayed my PSWbD dragon. It’s such a big story, it demanded multiple issues. With the announcement of a name (just Skydance) and executive team, though, I think we can almost close the book on this story. In terms of topics, it becomes just another studio to cover. So today, I have one last set of takes on that merger. As I’ve sat with it, reading about who was staying and who was going, a big worry crystallized in my brain, and I gotta get that take out. Plus, I still owe you a host of “ugliness” that didn’t fit in my previous “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” takes. Let’s dive in! Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - As Paramount Shuffles Deck Chairs, Will They Build or Consolidate? On social media—I try to avoid most social media platforms, but sometimes I end up checking in—the best joke I saw about the announcement of the new name of Skydance was from fellow reporter Claire Atkinson who pointed out… Yeah, I laughed out loud at that one. Later, though, I saw another Twitter response (that later got deleted, so I can’t shout the person out) that did give me pause. The person noted that the Titanic film made the better analogy: a super expensive project everyone in the town doubted that went on to conquer the globe. So yeah: on one hand, the image of the Titanic recalls the actual ship and its infamous end, but that clip is from a movie which proved the doubters wrong. So for all the skepticism of the latest massive media merger, one could wonder which way this one goes. Does it crash like the Titanic or rise to glory like Titanic, the movie? Either way, this deal is “Titanic”, looking at the massive debt required to close the deal, which is not going well when it comes to borrowing costs for Paramount… …or borrowing costs for Oracle. But I’ve started to get worried about another outcome: the sum of this merger will be smaller and weaker and less profitable than its former parts. In other words, one plus one won’t equal three or two, but an even smaller number. Skydance paid to take a traditional studio off the board, but they won’t really capture the upside. Let me explain what I mean, but first, let’s look at the series of news that inspired this thought. Skydance Sets Its Leadership Team As soon as the Paramount-Skydance-Warner Bros.-Discovery merger closed, the new leadership team announced a new name—Skydance, which I’ll use going forward—and a new executive leadership team. You’ve probably read through all the executive shuffling, but if you haven’t, here’s a quick, incomplete summary, in rough order of importance: Mattel’s CEO Ynon Kreiz—who previously ran Maker Studios—joined as co-CEO with David Ellison. HBO/HBO Max’s Casey Bloys will stay and run streaming. Former head of streaming for Paramount-Skydance Cindy Holland—who was also at Netflix—will depart. The former heads of Warner Bros.—Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca—are out. The film studios will be run by Dana Goldstein and Josh Greenstein. George Cheeks of Paramount will run Skydance TV, controlling all the TV production units. In comic book news, the DC films will still be run by Peter Gunn and Peter Safran. Lastly, the head of CNN, Mark Thompson, will stay in place. Let’s quickly opine on the particulars before diving into the broad ramifications. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… Who I like and dislike in their next gigs… Why I think this consolidation will likely leave Skydance worse off… The math behind which mergers succeed and which don’t… A lot more ugliness in this merger… And a whole lot more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support.
Skydance raises Discovery+ prices, a week after Skydance merger
Discovery+ is getting more expensive just a week after Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery became Skydance. Here’s what subscribers will pay, and when.
Deanna Harris Joins Alloy Entertainment As VP, Television
Harris joins the company, which is owned by Skydance’s Warner Bros. Television Group, from DiVide Pictures, Milo Ventimiglia’s production company.
What does the combined Skydance, now in business, mean for Hollywood?
It's been just about a week since the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal closed. In the months ahead, Hollywood will determine its future.
What does the combined Skydance, now in business, mean for Hollywood?
It's been just about a week since the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal closed. In the months ahead, Hollywood will determine its future.
Warner Bros. could face loss of at least $150 million on 'Digger' after tepid box office
Tom Cruise’s “Digger” fell 60% in its second weekend to $3.2 million, leaving Warner Bros. facing a loss that could top $150 million.
What will Skydance do with the industry’s most complex sports rights portfolio?
With the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger now complete, forming Skydance, many in the sports media world are watching and wondering what happens to the combined entity’s sports rights. Certainly, this seems like a good time to examine what the folks at Skydance Global Sports Group (now to be called SGSG forevermore) are, and…
Commentary: Not even Tom Cruise could save ‘Digger’
Continuing a concerning trend for Warner Bros. in 2026, its latest release is buried in a financial hole no film can escape. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s "Digger" arrived over the weekend
David Ellison expects CBS to be in business with NFL for ‘foreseeable future’
Skydance CEO David Ellison is full speed ahead on a press tour to promote his freshly combined media company, which formally brought together Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery after a lengthy process earlier this week. Since the company’s formal combination, Ellison has fielded questions during a press conference and given a handful of interviews. Most…
Gerhard Zeiler Exiting Skydance To Follow Political Ambitions
Gerhard Zeiler, Warner Bros. Discovery international boss, is officially exiting Skydance to follow political ambitions in Austria.
Skydance's Gerhard Zeiler, Warner Bros President International, Exits
"It is surprisingly difficult to find the right words to say goodbye," the Austrian writes in an internal memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. "At the end of next week, I will leave the company."
Skydance CEO David Ellison: AI is going to transform every part of the business
CNBC’s David Faber and David Ellison, Skydance Chairman & CEO, and Ynon Kreiz, Skydance co-CEO, join 'Squawk Box' to discuss Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, what to expect from the new combined entity, the decision to bring Ynon Kreiz on board, future of the company's linear, streaming and movie businesses, integration of AI, and more.
What the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger means for the future of film
Paramount now owns Warner Bros., CNN, and HBO Max. FSU students explain what that means for the movies you see and the jobs they want.
Entertainment news expert discusses the Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery merger
Toby Emmerich Joins FilmNation Entertainment's Infrared As Consultant
Former Warner Bros Motion Picture Chief Toby Emmerich is boarding FilmNation Entertainment's Infrared as a consultant.
Skydance emerges as entertainment behemoth with Top Gun and Harry Potter
Continuity will be the immediate emphasis for Skydance, the new entertainment giant created by Paramount's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Skydance mashes proven properties of Paramount and Warner Bros. into an uncertain Hollywood hybrid
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Continuity will be the immediate emphasis for Skydance, the newly created entertainment behemoth borne of Paramount's $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery that closed on T...
Skydance now runs two of Hollywood’s legacy film studios. A look at the new company, by the numbers
David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance has completed its $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing two of Hollywood’s most storied legacy film studios under one mammoth media and entertainment conglomerate named Skydance. Now, Skydance must decide how to make the most out of a trove of entertainment assets, including the HBO Max and Paramount+ video streaming services, a film library that includes “Star Trek,” “Barbie,” “Top Gun,” “Harry Potter,” and “Superman,” and two major news organizations, CNN and CBS News. Here’s a look at the new company, by the numbers.
Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger closes, creates combined company Skydance
David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, speaks during CinemaCon 2026 on April 16, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (David Becker/Getty Images for CinemaCon)
Entertainment: Paramount closes deal with Warner Bros.
Paramount has closed its $81 billion dollar purchase of Warner Brothers Discovery, forming a new Hollywood giant now called "Skydance".
Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery Officially Merge Into Skydance
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery complete their $110 billion merger, creating Skydance, a new global media and entertainment giant.
Warner Bros. and Paramount are now Skydance – What the merger means for you
Say goodbye to decades of Hollywood history and hello to the era of mega media corporations.
Warner Bros. and Paramount are now Skydance – What the merger means for you
Say goodbye to decades of Hollywood history and hello to the era of mega media corporations.
Skydance's $80 Billion Debt: Warner Bros., Paramount Owner's Reality
The combined company now has the scale to take on Netflix and Disney, but little room for error as it balances massive spending on film and TV with servicing its crushing financial obligations.
Paramount-WBD deal closes; here are top quant-rated entertainment stocks
The merger of Paramount Skydance (SKYD) and Warner Bros. Discovery NASDAQ:WBD marks a major shift in the entertainment industry after months of competing bids, lawsuits, and uncertainty.With the deal now closed, here are the top 20 Seeking Alpha's quant-rated stocks in the Movies and Entertainment…
Films and streaming prices - how the Warner Bros deal could affect you
The deal is expected to alter the entertainment and news industries but could it mean higher prices for consumers?
Paramount-Warner Bros merger: Four ways the deal could affect you
The deal is expected to alter the entertainment and news industries but could it mean higher prices for consumers?
Walmart goes after linear TV with Warner Bros ad deal
The retail giant has struck a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery so advertisers can target Walmart shoppers on linear TV.
Paramount and Warner Bros. to become one Hollywood giant: Skydance. Here's how we got here
Skydance-owned Paramount is expected to close its $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday. The new Hollywood giant will have a shorter nametag: “Skydance.” But it marks one of...
PARAMOUNT COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY, CREATING A NEW GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT LEADER, SKYDANCE
Skydance Corporation (f/k/a Paramount Skydance Corporation) (NYSE: SKYD) ("Paramount") today announced the completion of its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBD) ("WBD"), creating a combined company, named "Skydance." The company brings together two major film studios, two global streaming services, a premier television portfolio including CBS, HBO, and Paramount's and WBD's cable networks, two of the industry's most recognized news networks, CBS News and CNN, and a portfoli
Luis Silberwasser out at TNT Sports as CBS’s David Berson takes over Skydance’s combined sports group
The long-anticipated marriage of CBS Sports and TNT Sports now has a clear head of household, and it won’t be Luis Silberwasser. According to CNBC’s Alex Sherman, Silberwasser, chairman and CEO of TNT Sports, is exiting the soon-to-be combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, he told his staff in an email on Monday. CBS…
CBS Sports Chief David Berson To Expand Portfolio As TNT Sports Chief Luis Silberwasser Exits
David Berson, who has led CBS Sports as president since 2024, will expand his portfolio after the close of the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The exec will take responsibility for sports across Skydance, the soon-to-be-umbrella over CBS and TNT Sports and their respective parents, Paramount and WBD. The $111 billion merger is due to close …
David Ellison names Skydance team that includes prominent Warner executives
Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison has rolled out his Skydance executive team, which includes several senior Warner Bros. executives who will segue into new roles at the soon-to-be merged
TNT Sports head Luis Silberwasser to depart Skydance as CBS Sports chief David Berson takes over combined global sports group
TNT Sports chief Luis Silberwasser will be leaving a combined Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery company, sources tell CNBC.
Warner Bros. Executive Gerhard Zeiler to Enter Politics in Austria
Gerhard Zeiler, president of international for Warner Bros. Discovery, has declared his intention to enter politics in Austria.
Best Entertainment Stocks To Watch Now
Warner Bros. Discovery, Autodesk, DraftKings, Verizon Communications, and Spotify Technology are the five Entertainment stocks to watch today, according to MarketBeat's stock screener tool. Entertainment stocks are shares of publicly traded companies involved in producing, distributing, or deliveri
Mary McNamara: As David Ellison names his new empire Skydance, the message is clear: He owns Hollywood
LOS ANGELES — What a surprise. David Ellison has decided to name the Frankenstudio media company created by the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery simply Skydance. And
Skydance Executive Team Set By David Ellison Ahead of Deal Close
Skydance announced the executive leadership for the combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery.
'Coyote vs. Acme' Earns $100 Million, Proves David Zaslav Wrong
Three years after Warner Bros. shelved "Coyote vs. Acme," the Looney Tunes adaptation is a box office hit.
Tom Cruise-led ‘Digger’ tanks at the box office
The Tom Cruise-led movie "Digger" cratered at the box office this weekend, limping to a fifth-place finish with $8 million in the U.S. and Canada in its theatrical debut. The Warner Bros. film was expected to do poorly after polarizing...
Tom Cruise-led 'Digger' craters at the box office
Warner Bros.' climate change satire "Digger" collapsed at the box office with a domestic haul of $8 million, despite the star power of Tom Cruise.
On cusp of merger, ‘Digger bombs for Warner Bros., ‘Verity’ takes No. 1 at box office
On the cusp of the studio’s merger with Paramount, Warner Bros.
On cusp of merger, 'Digger bombs for Warner Bros., 'Verity' takes No. 1 at box office
On the cusp of the studio’s merger with Paramount, Warner Bros | 830 WCCO
On cusp of merger, 'Digger bombs for Warner Bros., 'Verity' takes No. 1 at box office
On the cusp of the studio’s merger with Paramount, Warner Bros | NewsRadio 1080 KRLD
On cusp of merger, 'Digger bombs for Warner Bros., 'Verity' takes No. 1 at box office
On the cusp of the studio’s merger with Paramount, Warner Bros.
Tony Gilroy Says Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Will ‘Destroy’ a ‘Healthy and Beautiful Business’ in ‘The Name of Venture Capital’: ‘It’s Tragic’
Tony Gilroy blasted the “tragic” nature of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger at the world premiere of his new film, “Behemoth!” Produced on a $36 million budget, “Behemoth!” is representative of the m...
Can Skydance CEO David Ellison Make Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Fly?
David Ellison has to prove the merged Paramount-Warner Bros., dubbed Skydance, can become a profitable Hollywood powerhouse amid its massive debt.
FTI, Oracle and Paramount: This Week's Top Five Stories
This week's top stories include, FTI Consulting on the AI slowdown, Oracle's US$664bn backlog and further news from Paramount's Warner Bros. merger
European Leaders Mostly Optimistic About Paramount-WB's Future
European industry leaders are cautiously optimistic now that Paramount is about to complete its takeover of Warner Bros., but there are many unknowns.
Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery will be called Skydance
David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, speaks during CinemaCon 2026 on April 16, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (David Becker/Getty Images for CinemaCon)
Paramount, Warner Bros. will be named Skydance after merger
David Ellison said the merged Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will be called Skydance — the moniker he picked nearly two decades ago when the tech scion began building his
Skydance Is New Name for Paramount-Warner Bros. Company
Paramount and Warner Bros. will operate under the Skydance corporate name as the companies prepare to complete their $111 billion merger.
Everything Paramount will own as Skydance
What brands and IP are impacted by the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger?
New name of Paramount-Warner Bros. revealed
CEO David Ellison announced that the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. will result in Skydance ahead of the official deal closure on Oct. 6.
Paramount’s Warner Bros. megamerger will just be called Skydance
David Ellison doesn’t want a ‘new corporate identity’ to overshadow Warner Bros. and Paramount’s brands.
Paramount, Warner Bros. combine as new entity Skydance, David Ellison announces
He announced the updated on X
New Paramount Warner Bros. Name is Skydance, David Ellison Says
Paramount and Warner Bros. will exist as sub-brands in the larger corporate brand.
CNN chief Mark Thompson in talks to remain in role after Paramount takes over network
Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison has approached Thompson about staying in charge following the merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Entertainment Stocks To Add to Your Watchlist
Warner Bros. Discovery, Walt Disney, Verizon Communications, Take-Two Interactive Software, and Spotify Technology are the five Entertainment stocks to watch today, according to MarketBeat's stock screener tool. Entertainment stocks are shares of publicly traded companies involved in producing, dis
Mark Ruffalo blasts Paramount–Warner Bros. merger after judge approves settlement
Mark Ruffalo decries the recently approved Paramount–Warner Bros. mega-merger as an ‘incredibly disappointing outcome’ that will ‘weaken free speech, and cost people their jobs.’
Looking at the Ugly Side of the Paramount-Skydance Merger...And How I’d Fix It
A Message from Our Sponsor Certified Fresh with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, FX’s Adults is an ensemble comedy series about a group of twenty-somethings in New York leaning on each other to navigate love, work, friendship and family. Don’t sleep on “The Sitcom of the Moment” - Awards Buzz All Episodes now streaming on Hulu on Disney+. Watch The Teaser Trailer... (Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industr(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Before we dive in, I wanted to congratulate Broadcast Now for being the first to report that Netflix’s How to Get to Heaven from Belfast has been cancelled. (I saw this in a write-up by Kasey Moore of Whats-On-Netflix.) More importantly, I wanted to note that, as of yesterday, none of the other trades had reported the news yet. I have half a guess that eventually one of them will report this. Anyways, it’s time to take a break from my deluge of streaming ratings reports to continue my analysis of the Paramount Skydance Warner Bros. Discovery (PSWbD) saga. As I noted last week, a lot of times when folks use the (sometimes cliched) “the good, the bad and the ugly” framing for an article, “the ugly” section is just more bad. Or very, very bad. In this case, yeah, I do think it’s ugly. In more than one way. Unfortunately, we’re only going to have time to tackle one of those ways today: the ugly pile of debt to finance this deal. (In a future article, I may cover the entire process for how it went down, which was very, very ugly.) Last issue, I explained why I liked this deal in a vacuum. Unfortunately, “vacuums” don’t exist outside of space. Let’s dive in. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - The Ugliness of the Paramount/Warner Bros. Merger More than one person sent me a note speculating that the big problem with Paramount Skydance buying Warner Bros. Discovery is the “Warner Bros.” portion of the deal. In fact, that’s a take I read a lot about Warner Bros., ever since they caught Netflix’s, and then Paramount-Skydance’s, eye. In short, multiple companies (Time, AOL, AT&T, Discovery) have bought and then regretted buying Warner Bros. Since it’s nearing Halloween, you could almost say it’s like the folks think WB is cursed! It’s a haunted studio—like the town of Derry in movie studio form—and whoever takes possession of it will fall into misery! Yet...I just don’t like that story, because it doesn’t explain the “why” behind why those deals fell through. Especially when Warner Bros. has continued to succeed as a TV and film studio in the intervening two decades. Lord of the Rings? Harry Potter? Game of Thrones? Everything HBO? Considering it never fully owned a broadcast TV channel, this media company has done pretty well. So what went wrong? Well, in recent years, companies bought Warner Bros. instead of the other, smarter option. Explaining POCD (And Applying It to Mergers & Acquisitions) As I explained last issue, one of my favorite frameworks is the POCD tool for evaluating venture capital investments: People Opportunity Context Deal The bar to invest as a VC is high. (Or I might say “was” since cheap interest rates made life easier last decade.) You review a thousand prospectuses, get pitched by a hundred, and invest in the ten best, with the hopes that one of those ten would pay for the rest. That means every element of a deal needed to pay off: you needed the right people running the companies, who could capitalize on the right opportunity, in the context of an industry that was ripe for disruption. If you could then not overpay, you could make some money in a smart deal. The analogy isn’t perfect here, but close enough. For a merger or acquisition to work, you need the combined company (which is the opportunity) to make more than the price you need to pay (which is the deal). Note: the people and context still matter, but with M&A, it’s a little more straightforward: does the opportunity exceed the cost? And usually with Warner Bros., it hasn’t. If you want to find out the single biggest mistake made by the Warner Bros. suitors over the last few years (and my simple fix) become a paid subscriber. I’ll also touch on who I think Paramount-Skydance could (shockingly) consider buying next, TBD, and more. Sign up here.
Federal judge allows Paramount-Warner merger to move forward
A federal judge in Oakland has approved a settlement that allows Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison to finalize his $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Ellison is aiming
Best Entertainment Stocks To Add to Your Watchlist
Warner Bros. Discovery, Walt Disney, Roblox, Verizon Communications, and Spotify Technology are the five Entertainment stocks to watch today, according to MarketBeat's stock screener tool. Entertainment stocks are shares of publicly traded companies involved in producing, distributing, or deliverin
Paramount streaming chief exits ahead of Warner Bros. Discovery merger
Paramount Skydance's streaming head exits ahead of the WBD merger. She told staff CEO David Ellison was "optimizing for HBO stability."
Paramount streaming chief Cindy Holland exits studio
The announcement comes as Paramount waits for a judge's approval of its $111-billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount, states reject Booker's call for deeper review of merger deal
Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery and attorneys general from 12 states are pushing back against Sen. Cory Booker's questions about how their antitrust settlement came about and whether its terms go far enough.
The McGraw sisters bring double the trouble
The cast and crew celebrate the film’s Los Angeles premiere at the Warner Bros. Studios lot
Best Entertainment Stocks Worth Watching
Walt Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Verizon Communications, Roblox, and DraftKings are the five Entertainment stocks to watch today, according to MarketBeat's stock screener tool. Entertainment stocks are shares of publicly traded companies involved in creating, producing, distributing, or deliver
California deal on Paramount-Warner Bros. merger spurs frustration
Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s agreement clearing the $111-billion merger followed intense pressure from state leaders including Gov. Gavin Newsom and dissent among fellow Democratic state attorneys general.
California deal on Paramount-Warner Bros. merger spurs frustration, questions about political pressure
Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta's agreement clearing the $111-billion merger followed intense pressure from state leaders including Gov. Gavin Newsom and dissent among fellow Democratic state attorneys general.
Protesters at Paramount's gates say Bonta 'caved' on Warner Bros. merger deal
Dozens rallied outside Paramount's Hollywood lot, saying the settlement clearing its Warner Bros. merger fails to protect L.A. entertainment jobs.
What we know — and don’t
Paramount has cleared the final hurdle in its year-long race to take over Warner Bros. Discovery. Now comes the really hard part.
'Coyote vs. Acme' Crosses $100 Million: Inside the Underdog's David vs. Goliath Marketing Campaign
How "Coyote vs. Acme," a movie deemed unreleasable by Warner Bros., managed to cross $100 million at the global box office.
AG Rob Bonta reaches settlement with Paramount/Skydance’s David Ellison over entertainment mega-merger with Warner Bros.
After clearing a state antitrust lawsuit with minor concessions, David Ellison pledges to keep the combined media empire in LA. By Sarah Lin Major California AG Rob Bonta settled an antitrust lawsuit against Paramount and Warner Bros., securing commitments from David Ellison to keep operations in Los Angeles.
What’s Next for Paramount
Hollywood watchers believe the studio prevailed over states seeking to block its deal for Warner Bros. Discovery. It’s now free to reshape the media industry.
How the Paramount-Warner settlement could change movies
Moviegoers and subscribers may see more films, and workers could benefit from new spending after Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
How the Paramount-Warner settlement could change movies
Moviegoers and subscribers may see more films, and workers could benefit from new spending after Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
What to know about Paramount's settlement and its impact on movies
Movie studio Paramount has agreed to settle an antitrust lawsuit filed by 12 states, the last big obstacle blocking the company’s $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery in a
Read Paramount CEO David Ellison's memo after settling WBD lawsuit
Paramount Skydance's CEO confirmed to employees that the company had settled the lawsuits that were holding up its deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
Deal Terms Revealed: Paramount, 12 States Unveil Warner Bros. Settlement Plan
The settlement clears the way for Paramount and Warners to merge, creating an entertainment colossus.
State attorneys general agree to settle Paramount merger lawsuit
The state attorneys general suing to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, have reached a settlement, clearing the way for the companies to complete the merger.
Paramount, attorneys general settle lawsuit, clearing a path for Warner Bros. merger
With the agreement, California Atty. General Rob Bonta and his coalition plan to withdraw historic lawsuit that aimed to derail the $111-billion deal.
Paramount to Resolve Antitrust Lawsuit, Clearing the Way for Warner Bros. Acquisition
The deal would remove the last significant hurdle the media mogul David Ellison faced to create a news and entertainment empire, home to movie studios, HBO, CBS and CNN.
Opposition grows to Paramount-Warner Bros. merger settlement as the Hollywood deal enters a critical week
Paramount-Warner Bros. merger deal faces a critical week ahead
Mark Ruffalo urges California AG Rob Bonta not to 'cave' in Paramount-Warner Bros. merger fight
Mark Ruffalo urged California Attorney General Rob Bonta not to cave on settlement talks over the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
The Paramount Warner Bros Deal Isn't Considering The Independents
Nobody In The Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal Is Considering The Impact On The Independent Business -- Guest Column
How Is Warner Bros. Discovery's Stock Performance Compared to Other Entertainment Stocks
Warner Bros. Discovery has rallied other entertainment stocks, yet analysts remain skeptical about the stock’s outlook.
Lena Dunham welcomes her first baby via surrogacy
(CNN) — Actress and writer Lena Dunham and her husband Luis Felber have welcomed a baby daughter via surrogate.Writing in an op-ed published by Vogue on Wednesday, Dunham, 40, who is best known as the creator of hit TV series “Girls,” revealed that the couple’s first child had arrived 13 days late, before describing the moment of her birth.“I was so focused on our surrogate — in awe at her concentration, her period of quiet followed by what sounded like a roar — I forgot to look down until I heard our baby’s cry,” she wrote.“I saw her face, gasping just as she did. Her eyes, wide and unfocused, taking in the light and shadow, blinking rapidly.”Dunham said she was “bashful and dizzy with joy.”In 2018, Dunham revealed that she’d had a hysterectomy in an attempt to end the pain caused by endometriosis.Endometriosis is a common and often painful condition that happens when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus itself. It’s estimated to affect more than 11% of women between the ages of 15 and 44 across the United States.The surgery removed her cervix and uterus, meaning that she was unable to conceive naturally.On meeting her surrogate, Dunham wrote in the Vogue piece: “While I’ve been known to make friends quickly — airport terminals, veterinary offices — this was the quickest leap from first coffee to gynecological procedure I’d ever done.”Dunham said in the months before the embryo transfer date, as she “got to know our surrogate and to trust her,” she thought she would feel “jealousy” towards her, but she did not.“Instead, I felt a different kind of jealousy — toward said baby, for the chance to be tucked into someone who radiated such safety. I could just tell she knew how to steer an SUV in the snow,” Dunham added.The pregnancy came after “12 years circling the fertility drain,” Dunham wrote, and revealed how she dealt with the nerves of the intervening months.“Powerless and unable to feel the physical changes that signal a growing fetus, I horrified friends and family who adhere to the Jewish superstition prohibiting anticipatory purchases, and I started shopping,” said Dunham, before recounting her journey into the world of baby fashion.“I was looking for garments that allowed her personality to develop and express itself rather than announcing an identity she didn’t yet have,” she said.“She would be a person that we helped to dress, who made an impression on the world based on our choices, until she was old enough to do it herself.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.THE-CNN-WIRE (TM) & © 2026 CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., A TIME WARNER COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Paramount's California future in doubt amid escalating legal fight
Paramount declined to comment on reports it may leave California, prompting responses from state officials as the company battles a lawsuit over its Warner Bros. Discovery deal.
Hiltzik: The 'independent' study that isn't so independent
A 'leaked' study paints a grim picture for L.A. if Paramount fails to merge with Warner Bros. Here's why you shouldn't trust it.
Will Netflix’s Latest Horror Film Save Its Summer? And Introducing a New Data Source...
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) All month, I’ve been polling you, my readers, on how we think the summer’s biggest blockbusters will do when they eventually land on streaming, and I wanted to share the results. First up, how readers think The Odyssey will perform when it comes to Peacock... People are pretty bullish that The Odyssey will smash it for Peacock. I don’t know that it will have as much rewatchability as Wicked did for kids, but we’ll see. It is now Universal’s highest-grossing film of all time. One note: almost half of Christopher Nolan’s films weren’t available for streaming the week The Odyssey came to theaters, including some of his biggest films like Inception, Dunkirk, Tenet, Oppenheimer and Insomnia. If you did want to watch the others, Prime Video had Memento and The Dark Knight trilogy, HBO Max only had The Dark Knight trilogy (even though Warner Bros. produced most of Nolan’s films), Hulu had The Prestige and Interstellar, and Paramount+ had Interstellar. So you needed at least two streaming subscriptions to catch the rest. Warner Bros. whiffed right here. I know they have long term licensing deals, but they should have tried to get as many Nolan films on HBO Max for launch as possible. Here are the results for Spider-Man: Brand New Day: The audience is a bit more mixed on this one, with everyone agreeing Spider-Man will swing to a big opening, but not necessarily elite or best all time. On to this week’s issue. Netflix continues searching for a hit straight-to-streaming summer film and Lioness and Ted Lasso allow me to look at the difference between a “hit” and a ‘hit for them”. All that, plus new YA/teen melodramas on Prime Video and Netflix, the House of the Dragon finale, USA Network claims a big opening, more big NFL ratings, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. But we start with a fun new data announcement. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of August 3rd to August 9th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe A New Data Source: Reelgood’s Data on Content Libraries Here’s a fun new treat for you. Reelgood—an online service and app that lets users track where shows or films are streaming—is providing data every month for the Streaming Ratings Report on the size of each streamer’s catalogue, along with the new shows and films for each streamer. Yay! Previously, I had pulled “new shows on streamers premiering on the first of the month”: While I liked that data cut, it was a big wonky since it didn’t show all of the new shows or movies that came to a streamer each month. Instead, I would have preferred something like this from Reelgood’s annual report: And now we have it! I’m going to feature Reelgood’s data monthly, showing both total catalogue size and new shows and films appearing on the charts. That’s going to make these two cool new charts. First, here’s the size of various streamers’ film catalogues… (By the way, Reelgood offered to make the charts for me, but I like doing that task by hand to understand the data better.) They also provided data back to last year. Here’s the number of films timeline: And here are the new films on each streamer for the month prior to Aug: As I get used to this data, I plan to keep tinkering with how I display it, but I’m excited to feature it monthly. Today, I’m sharing the film charts; next issue, I’m going to feature TV shows by streamer. Now, in full disclosure, Reelgood is a sponsor of this little-newsletter-that-could. But in my constant quest to figure out what streamer various shows and films are on, I was already a Reelgood user before this sponsorship. I go to their website all the time, and their data is very accurate on where shows are (or have been). Plus, I’ve been sharing their weekly top ten lists for years now, pre-sponsorship. For me, this is a great win-win, since I get to amplify a service I love, and I get a cool new data source to play with. Now, normally folks don’t usually mention their sponsors directly, but as I wrote before, as I start featuring ads in my newsletter, I plan to be extremely open about who is sponsoring my writing so you can trust what I write. Television - Two Big Returning Shows Look Set to Take Over The Charts One key question when it comes to judging streaming shows is whether a show is a “hit” or a “hit for them”. To be clear, the former means a show that’s one of the top shows on streaming, no questions asked. The latter means a show is one of the biggest, for a given streamer. That distinction makes a big difference! It’s really good to be one of the biggest shows on a streamer; it’s much better to be the biggest on streaming, despite the size of a streamer. Because, as we’ve seen now, nearly every streamer—while lacking the number of subscribers or usage of Netflix—can make hit TV shows: Paramount released Landman, whose first and second seasons were among the top two TV shows the year they came out. HBO Max’s The Pitt’s second season is the biggest show of the year so far. Love Island USA was the top show in 2025 for Peacock. And, crucially for today’s discussion: Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back in 2023, Ted Lasso was actually the top streaming show of the year according to Nielsen! So even Apple TV (formerly +) can make hit shows. It just doesn’t make them that often. And looking at the Nielsen charts this week, we have two prime candidates for this discussion: That’s right: Ted Lasso returned to Apple TV for its fourth season. Did it return in all its expected glory? Sure, though right now it’s still just a “hit for Apple TV”, but we’ll see how long it lasts on the charts. Its ten episodes are coming out weekly. (Smart choice, Apple!) Ted Lasso started out strong, actually making the Nielsen charts the week before new episodes dropped, which is a rare feat. (Shows like Stranger Things or Bridgerton have pulled that off. That’s terrific company to join!) On Nielsen, it opened to 14.4 million hours in its first week, and 16.6 million the week of 10-Aug. Here’s how that compares to previous seasons: Apple put out that this is their biggest TV launch through two days ever, and looking at the chart and Apple TV’s viewership history, I’d believe it. Here’s Apple’s top shows for season two and beyond: Other data tells a (mostly) similar story. Ted Lasso made Samba TV and it has elite IMDb scores, an insane 8.7 on 465K reviews. The only outlier is Luminate, where the latest season only had 7.4 million hours, and no other seasons made the top ten. As you’ll see below, that’s well below some other solid, but not spectacular shows like Sterling Point, Ride or Die or Furious. I’d be surprised if Ted Lasso isn’t bigger than those other shows, but it’s fine for different data sources to occasionally disagree. And while it’s sucky to bring this up, given that Warner Bros. produced this show, I do wonder how the streaming wars may have been different if Ted Lasso landed on HBO Max initially instead of Apple. I don’t think one show can make or break a streamer, but given HBO’s brand, it could have helped bring people to that streamer much earlier in its lifespan. (Though yeah, I don’t love calling out executives for passing on hit shows, since that’s just the nature of the job. Even the absolute best execs will pass on lots of successful shows. The key is not greenlighting the under-performers/misses.) The other show I’m thinking about in the “hit or hit for them” category is Lioness from Paramount+. Like Ted Lasso, its first season missed the charts, but it’s grown its audience since then. Here’s how season three opened: We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… How Lioness did on streaming... Two new melodramas for Netflix and Prime Video... Whether Netflix’s latest horror film saved its summer... Hulu’s Furious and Prime Video’s Ride or Die continuing their strong runs... The latest high profile showrunner to flop on streaming... All the flops, bombs and misses... And a whole lot more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Next week, we’ve got a double issue—since the week of 17-Aug had very few notable new shows or films—so I’ll look at HBO’s Lanterns, Prime Video’s Reacher, Netflix’s Tires, Outer Banks (which posted up huge numbers four years ago), an Aussie romance, and another baseball event (that didn’t resonate). And a bunch of movies like the latest dramedy from an Adam Sandler daughter, Don’t Say Good Luck, Camp Rock 3 on Disney Channel and Disney+, Michael on Starz, and more. Later this month, we’ve got a ton of shows and films to analyze! Movies will be the big story, featuring a box office bomb (Supergirl on HBO Max) and an “underperformer” (The Mandalorian and Grogu on Disney+) contending with a bunch of star-studded straight-to-streaming films like Netflix’s The Whisper Man (Adam Scott, Michelle Monaghan and De Niro!), Mayday on Apple TV+ (Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh!), The Runner (Gal Gadot) and The Last Sunrise (Eva Longoria and Maia Reficco) on Prime Video. Plus, a ton of TV shows have sophomore seasons coming out. Will The Gentleman put up big numbers on Netflix or suffer from a sophomore slump? Leanne and Beauty in Black on Netflix seem small, but they both might be bigger than you think. Hulu has a bunch of shows: a new season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (the first after all the controversy last year) and the second season of Chad Powers (from Peyton Manning’s production company and starring Glen Powell). This one flopped last year; can it score a touchdown this year? Same goes for FX’s Adults, which I didn’t track last year; will it hit this year? Peacock’s The Office spinoff, The Paper and Apple TV’s Dark Matter also return for second seasons. And Netflix has more Untold specials featuring Vince Young, Raygun (that horrible breakdancer) and Mr. T. Long term, Paramount+ is rebooting yet another franchise, Clueless, and I’m somewhat bullish on this new show. The talent attached (Alicia Silverstone) and creative Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (of The O.C. and Gossip Girl) also feel solid...if they make it funny like the original.
'Practical Magic 2' breaks Spidey spell over N. American box office
The A-list witches of Warner Bros.'The witch sisters summoned another $16 million outside of North America, for a total global estimate of $46 million.