According to CNBC, Paramount Skydance now expects an additional $1 billion in merger savings beyond previous forecasts, bringing total expected savings to $2 billion. CEO David Ellison revealed these updated figures in the company’s first earnings report since the merger closed in early August. The savings come alongside significant workforce reductions, with about 1,600 employees affected by layoffs tied to divestitures in Argentina and Chile. Meanwhile, Paramount plans to increase prices for its flagship Paramount+ streaming service in the first quarter of next year. The company is investing heavily in streaming content, including live sports rights, while cutting costs elsewhere in the business.
The streaming gamble gets real
Here’s the thing about Ellison’s strategy: he’s basically doubling down on streaming while the rest of Hollywood seems to be pulling back. Everyone’s talking about profitability now, not just subscriber growth. But Ellison appears to be betting that premium content—especially live sports—can justify those price hikes. The question is whether consumers will stick around when their bills go up next year. It’s a risky move when people are already cutting streaming services left and right.
The human cost of corporate math
Let’s talk about those 1,600 layoffs. That’s not just a number—those are real people losing their jobs while the company celebrates “savings.” The divestitures in Argentina and Chile suggest Paramount is retreating from international markets to focus on domestic streaming. It’s classic corporate restructuring: cut here to spend there. But I wonder if this constant churn of mergers, layoffs, and “efficiencies” actually creates sustainable businesses. Seems like we’ve seen this movie before with other media companies.
Where does Paramount go from here?
So what’s Ellison’s endgame here? He’s cutting costs aggressively while spending big on content and technology. That $1 billion in additional savings gives him serious firepower to compete in the streaming wars. But competing against Netflix, Disney, and Amazon requires more than just money—it requires hits. And creating hits is unpredictable, expensive, and frankly, harder than just cutting jobs. The next year will show whether this financial engineering actually translates into better content that people want to pay more for. Otherwise, those price hikes might just drive subscribers away faster than new content brings them in.
