Business 4 min read By Lauren Baxter
Paramount Skydance Posts First Quarterly Results After Warner Bros. Discovery Deal
Paramount Skydance published its first quarterly report following the $81 billion deal, which closed on October 6. Segment profit came in at $73 million, and the company announced a combined streaming bundle along with job cuts in its gaming and news divisions.
Paramount Skydance published its first quarterly report after completing the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, valued at $81 billion. The deal closed on October 6, in the current fourth quarter, so the results of Warner Bros. Discovery's assets are barely reflected in this period's figures. The combined company's revenue was about $7 billion, and segment profit reached $73 million. This is a sharp turnaround from a loss in the same period last year, with the studio business and streaming playing the main role in it.
The report also cites a net profit figure of $73 billion. Such a value looks like a reporting error or the result of an unusual item, so for now it cannot be treated as a real financial indicator. The full impact of the merger on the company's finances will only become clear next quarter. The total number of job cuts across both companies remains unclear, as does how many positions will be affected in each division.
Streaming remains the main focus of the strategy. According to sources, the company is preparing a joint subscription bundle combining Paramount+ and HBO Max. The launch of such a bundle is planned for early 2027. It is reported that the lineup will include the series "Tulsa King" and "The White Lotus." The exact subscription price and final launch date have not yet been confirmed, so any pricing benchmarks remain preliminary. For a service that merges the libraries of two major studios, the bundle will be a test of how willing audiences are to pay for several platforms within a single subscription.
The merger has already affected the news division. According to four people familiar with the situation, some veteran CNN staffers have accepted voluntary buyout packages related to the deal. Camera operators and fact-checkers were among those let go, that is, people whose work underpins the channel's visual content and the accuracy of its materials. The deadline to accept the offer was one of the last Sundays. The materials do not specify the exact number of employees who left, nor whether similar decisions will be made in other newsrooms.
The gaming division was hit even faster. Cuts at Skydance Games followed roughly a month after the merger. On October 6, Paramount Games Studio was combined with the developers of Warner Bros. Games, and employees began leaving the company shortly afterward. The affected studios include Avalanche, NetherRealm, Rocksteady and TT Games. Avalanche created "Hogwarts Legacy," one of the most prominent franchises in the Warner Bros. Games portfolio. The scale of the cuts in the gaming division has not been disclosed, nor has the plan for further integration of the studios.
The new holding company's first report is important because it shows what the company will look like after the deal. For now, the main takeaways come down to two points: segment profit has risen sharply, while the key decisions on job cuts and product consolidation still lie ahead. The next quarterly report should show what share of the results comes from Warner Bros. Discovery's assets and how sustainable the growth of the studio and streaming businesses is.
Source: deadline.com
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