The Paramount Global and Skydance logos can be seen in this illustration taken on December 17, 2024.
Dado Ruvik | Reuters
paramount skydance said on Monday that it expects savings from the merger to be $1 billion higher than previously expected, as Chief Executive Officer David Ellison outlined his ambitions for the company.
This update was announced during Paramount’s third quarter earnings report. This is the company’s first such move since the merger was completed in early August. Ellison has invested heavily in streaming and content, including live sports rights, some of which is being paid for by cuts in other parts of the business.
Paramount on Monday announced new layoffs affecting approximately 1,600 employees in connection with asset sales in Argentina and Chile. These layoffs come weeks after Paramount began the process of laying off approximately 1,000 employees.
At the same time, Paramount said it plans to increase the price of its flagship streaming service, Paramount+, in the first quarter of next year in an effort to enhance content and improve the platform’s technology.
Paramount last raised streaming prices in June 2024, following a previous increase in early 2023.
The company’s shares rose about 6% in extended trading Monday.
cut to grow
In a letter to shareholders Monday, Ellison laid out the combined company’s initiatives, calling them Paramount Skydance’s “Northstar priorities.” These include investing in growth businesses, growing the streaming business globally, and identifying savings that will lead to “long-term free cash flow generation.”
Paramount Skydance management told investors in August that it planned to cut costs by $2 billion, but as of Monday’s report that had been raised to “run-rate efficiency of at least $3 billion.” More than $1.4 billion of these savings will be completed by the end of the year, with another $1 billion expected to be completed by the end of 2026, according to the letter.
The company is cutting staff. Less than a month after the merger was completed, the company warned its employees that it would require employees to work five days a week starting in January and that it would offer a takeover offer if employees did not want to make the transition. About 600 employees have chosen to leave rather than return to the office full-time, according to Monday’s letter.
The company also identified some cuts to its South American operations, announcing on Monday that it had sold Television Federal, which operates television stations in Buenos Aires and other markets in Argentina. The company is also proceeding with its withdrawal from Chile’s Chile Vision, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.
According to the letter, these sales are considered “non-core” to the company’s future growth and will result in the reduction of 1,600 employees.
Streaming, Featured Content
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison speaks at the Bloomberg Screen Time Conference in Los Angeles on October 9, 2025.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
While Paramount Skydance’s restructuring efforts, layoffs and cost-cutting efforts are top priorities for the company, Ellison also wasted no time in making acquisitions to enhance its content.
Most notably, the company is reportedly considering an acquisition. warner bros discovery The deal will see it acquire the Warner Bros. movie studio, the HBO Max streaming service, and a portfolio of cable TV networks including CNN and TNT Sports. CNBC reports that Warner Bros. Discovery has recently been put up for sale and has turned down three offers from Ellison in recent weeks.
Ellison did not comment Monday on his aspirations for WBD, but said the company is in a build-out mode that may or may not include mergers and acquisitions.
“I think it’s important to know that there’s nothing we can live without,” he says. “We’re seriously looking at this as a buy and build, and we absolutely have the ability to build to get there.”
On the sports side, Paramount Skydance has added TKO Group’s UFC to its fold in a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal. Paramount+ also became the exclusive long-term home in the U.S., Canada and Latin America for Zuffa Boxing, a new professional boxing promotion founded by TKO and Saudi-backed Serra.
The company also signed a deal with Activision to develop content for the “Call of Duty” video game franchise. Signed an exclusive five-year contract with the creator of “South Park.” and brought in creative team Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer. Netflix The hit “Stranger Things” will begin in mid-2026.
The additions to the content slate are aimed at increasing Paramount+ streaming subscribers. Paramount Skydance President Jeff Shell said on a call with investors that the service experienced a noticeable drop in customers over the summer, but customers returned in the fall when the NFL season began.
The company announced Monday that Paramount+ now has more than 79 million subscribers worldwide.
