David Ellison declined to comment specifically on a possible bid for Warner Bros. Discovery but did offered a sense of his “mindset” in any deal, that bigger doesn’t have to be worse for the talent community.
“I think, ironically it was [WBD CEO] David Zaslav last year who said that consolidation in the media business is important. And the way we approach everything” is through the lens of what is good for the talent community, what is good for our shareholders and value creation and what is good for “storytelling at large,” he said at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in LA.
That goes for any deal, and he made a point of saying there are other options out there. But with any deal, “We would approach it make more not less.”
He declined to say when big cuts at newly merged Paramount Skydance to realize well over $2 billion in savings are coming. But it will be sooner rather than later to enable to the company to look ahead.
News emerged recently that Paramount’s new owner is seriously exploring a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery only months after closing the drawn-out merger of Skydance and Paramount.
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