David Ellison: Paramount-Warner Merger Deserves a Fair Shake

David Ellison says he's done letting other people explain why he wants to mash Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery together. In a New York Times opinion piece, the Paramount chief executive (and CBS boss) argues that lawsuits from a dozen state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America are built on an outdated picture of Hollywood power. He notes that even a merged Paramount-Warner would represent under 20% of US viewing time and less than a quarter of the domestic box office—numbers he says don't support fears that one company could call the shots on ticket buyers or writers' pay.

Ellison instead sees the real anxiety as political: "The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner's CNN. There has been speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions." He stresses he's voted for both parties, insists CNN and CBS News must remain independent, and frames the deal as a bid to fund more journalism and more films, not less—promising 30 movies a year, 170 TV series, and over $30 billion in annual content spending. His pitch: "A deal this size is lived out in public, and I have felt every bit of that. I don't ask to be taken at my word; the commitments are in writing, and the work will be on screens where anyone can judge it." For Ellison's full argument, read his op-ed in the New York Times.