Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison defends Warner Bros. Discovery merger

Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison has broken his silence, defending his company's $110bn (£86bn) takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Opposition to the mega-merger relies on a vision of Hollywood that "no longer exists," he wrote in an op-ed published by The New York Times.

In his first public comments on the transaction, Ellison rejected claims that a combined media giant would exert excessive control over the market or erode newsroom independence.

The public intervention comes as Paramount and Warner Bros. continue an intense legal battle to close their massive deal, which was recently put on hold.

Addressing concerns over the future of Paramount's CBS and Warner's CNN, Ellison insisted the news outlets would remain non-partisan and stay positioned to "tell it straight down the middle."

To counter antitrust concerns, Ellison pointed out that a merged Paramount-Warner would account for less than 20% of US television watch time – dropping to around 13% when accounting for YouTube – as it competes against tech giants like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple whose resources "dwarf ours."

He also highlighted commitments to expand traditional production, promising 30 theatrical films and 170 television series annually backed by more than $30bn in annual content investment.

Scaling up content investment is vital to sustain creative workers against technology platforms driven by engagement algorithms, he argued.

Even so, Ellison acknowledged that "nobody can dictate what audiences will love."

The legal battle escalated in July when 12 state attorneys generals, led by California's Rob Bonta, alongside the Writers Guild of America, filed antitrust lawsuits to halt the merger. They argued that the merger would violate the Clayton Act by reducing competition and harming opportunities for writers.