CNBC Exclusive: Transcript: Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison Speaks with CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” Today

WHEN: Today, Thursday, March 5, 2026

WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk on the Street"

Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC exclusive interview with Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" (M-F, 9AM-11AM ET) today, Thursday, March 5. Following are links to video on CNBC.com: https://global-deals.online/video/2026/03/05/david-ellison-the-warner-bros-transaction-will-be-positive-for-both-cbs-news-and-cnn.html%3C/a%3E and https://global-deals.online/video/2026/03/05/paramount-ceo-david-ellison-warner-bros-deal-is-pro-competitive-and-pro-consumer.html%3C/a%3E.

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

DAVID FABER:  Joining us now in a CNBC exclusive is Paramount Skydance Chairman and CEO David Ellison. He's in Los Angeles with Julia Boorstin. And, Julia, take it away.

JULIA BOORSTIN:  Thanks so much. And, David, thanks so much for having us here on the Paramount lot to talk about this historic merger. You are going to be paying 63 percent more for Warner Brothers Discovery than you first reportedly offered back in September. Tell us, what is your response to concerns that maybe now you're overpaying.

DAVID ELLISON:  So, first, I just wanted – let's zoom out. Like we are incredibly excited to be here today. You know, I believe this deal is basically, you know, it's pro-competitive, it's pro-consumer. It's good for the overall creative economy. And, you know, we really believe in the value of what we're going to be able to create here. If you go to 10,000 feet, let's talk about what's required to really be able to win today. And the first thing is you have to be able to win in content. By uniting the iconic, basically, libraries of Paramount and the iconic libraries of Warner Brothers, we now have a library of 15,000 films, everything from Harry Potter to the D.C. Universe, Mission Impossible, Top Gun, and The Godfather under one roof. That puts us in an incredible position to really be able to win in the content space. We've, you know, it immediately gets us to scale in streaming. When you put Paramount+ and HBO MAX together, you get to over 200 million, basically gross subscribers. That'll come down a little bit, basically with the overlap, but it puts you in the position to be able to compete with the leaders in the industry. And we've also repeatedly said that we really need to become one of the most technologically capable media companies. We're using technology to transform every single aspect of this business, and we're going to rationalize the cost. And at the end of the day, we're owner operators. We're the largest shareholder in Paramount. We're going to be the largest shareholder in the combined company, and we could not be more excited about the future and our ability to really create value for all of our shareholders.

BOORSTIN:  So, it sounds like what you're saying is it was worth paying up and increasing your offer because acquiring that scale and securing that kind of scale in Hollywood right now is so essential. But at the same time, what comes with that is a lot of debt. And post-closure, the company will have $79 billion in debt, which has raised a lot of concerns, including from the likes of Fitch, which downgraded Paramount to junk status. How do you address the constraints you're going to now face when you're a non-investment grade borrower?

ELLISON:  So, I think, you know, obviously, yes, we have the debt, and let's actually contextualize that. So, you also have to look at the cash flow. This is a company that's going to generate over $10 billion in cash flow, $69 billion of revenue and $18 billion of EBITDA on a synergized basis this year. We'll be 4.3 times levered at close for the $6 billion in synergies. I think if you look at our track record and the ability to really execute on the synergies for the deal, when we signed the deal for Paramount, we announced $2 billion in synergies. When we actually closed, we were at $3 billion in synergies. We'll execute on over $2.5 billion by the end of this year. So, we have the ability to basically manage that and deliver on the $6 billion. I want to be clear, it's not the 16 that some people have reported. It'll be $6 billion in synergies. And with that cash flow, that includes us actually spending more on content than any of our peers. So, basically, we're going to be able to use basically that capital deployed towards content, deployed towards technology to be able to grow and scale the business. And we also have the cash flow to be able to manage the debt and ensure that we're investment grade three years after closing.

BOORSTIN:  So, that's – that balance that you're talking about here, the balancing the content investment with also managing leverage, is something that investors have talked a lot about – is your key challenge going forward. Because if you're going to be able to invest what it's going to take to compete on a content level, to make the 30 movies a year that you're talking about, how are you going to do that simultaneously while also managing leverage?

ELLISON:  So, it's what we said. You actually have the ability to be able to do both. And I think if you look at where the Warner Discovery merger basically, you know, really kind of got into trouble is that linear declined faster than people anticipated. They actually overdelivered on their cost saves but linear was declining faster. I think that linear decline curve is now incredibly well understood, and we've taken a very, very conservative view to that in our models to ensure that we never get into a position where that's not manageable. And given the $69 billion in revenue, the $10 billion-plus in cash flow, we feel confident in our ability to be able to manage the debt. Again, we'll be at investment grade basically within three years, and also have all of the capital that we need to invest in content, to grow our creative offering, to make 30 movies a year, to compete in streaming, and also to invest heavily in technology.

BOORSTIN:  And in terms of that $6 billion in synergies, there's a lot of concern here in Hollywood and there's been a lot of talk about how many layoffs might be part of that. Can you give us a sense of how much you're planning to eliminate jobs at a time when you can rely on technology to replace a lot of functions?

ELLISON:  So, look, we will absolutely have to rationalize the overall corporate overhead of the company, but that's not the primary driver of the synergies in the deal. Just when you look at it, we're going to bring HBO MAX and Paramount+ together. That will rationalize the tech stacks. There's incredible savings there as well as in our cloud rationalization. We're going to rationalize the real estate footprint of both of these companies. We are not going to sell either lot. Those are iconic and we are going to absolutely hold onto those. And, look, another example that was not talked about is really procurement. When we originally signed the deal basically to acquire Paramount, it was estimated at, you know, $50 to $100 million in procurement savings. The reality is it's well in excess of five times that. So, there are several buckets in this business to be able to operate it more efficiently to achieve those savings and still ensure that we can invest in growth and always compete.

BOORSTIN:  David?

FABER:  Thank you, Julia. David, it's David Faber here in New York. You know, back to the linear cable networks and the comments you just made in terms of having a plan in place that assumes that it continued declines, I'm just curious, I mean, you guys spend a lot of time shooting at obviously the overall value of the spun – potentially spun off entity for the Netflix deal, but you own a lot of cable networks. I mean, you really are confident that the projections you have for what is these continued declines in linear cable, and entertainment assets in particular, is sufficient to deal with anything that comes your way?

ELLISON:  So, David, the short answer is, yes, we do. And, look, I also think you have to contextualize that statement. We had a tremendous amount of questions on spinning off the linear assets during the deal with $17 billion of debt, you know, given the decline of cable. I also think, as we've talked about, you really have to basically separate broadcast and cable. You know, CBS is an incredible reach asset, and, you know, is an incredibly healthy business. You know, we have eight of the top ten shows on broadcast. We just had the best year we've ever had in the history of the NFL in terms of viewership. We could not be, you know, with –  "Marshals" basically this past weekend and "Tracker," we had a phenomenal, phenomenal debut in expanding the Taylor Sheridan universe. And also when you put all of these portfolios together, we absolutely believe that we can bend the decline basically of cable, we can rationalize the cost, and we can actually keep those brands healthier for longer. In addition to that, there are several iconic brands, both at Paramount and Warner Brothers, that we will transition to streaming. So, we see really significant value there.

FABER:  You know, you mentioned the NFL, of course, such an important provider of content for the CBS network. A lot of reports have them reopening negotiations for the next contract, and, of course, the expectation is the number is going to go up substantially for your company and many others who broadcast the games. What are your expectations there in terms of what you're going to have to pay for the NFL and how that figures again into some of the questions Julia is asking about your overall leverage in the financial health of the company?

ELLISON: Yes. No, David, absolutely. So, when we have a phenomenal relationship with the NFL, and we anticipate that continuing for the foreseeable future, genuinely, they are one of our most important partners, and we plan for them to stay one of our most important partners having just delivered a historic season, really, in partnership with them. And, you know, ongoing negotiations, we're not really in a position where we can comment. I promise we'll share something as soon as we have something to say.

FABER: But you do expect that you're going to be able to withstand what might be as much as a 50 percent increase in the overall cost of the NFL?

ELLISON: Again, on specifics and the ongoing negotiation, I really can't comment on that. What I can tell you is we do plan to, you know, continue our relationship and I do believe we have planned accordingly there.

FABER: I want to ask about the regulatory front from the deal itself, of course, something I focused a lot on and you guys focused a lot on when it came to your competitor, Netflix. You guys are all good in the U.S., but the California state A.G., I'm told, may pose a problem, not because they could make a case, David, that necessarily would win in court, but they could potentially delay your deal, file a lawsuit, maybe even get a temporary restraining order that could push you another six to eight months, you know, further out, particularly given the potential for job losses in California. How do you view that? How do you view the threat from the California state A.G. in dealing with it?

ELLISON:  Yes. No, absolutely, David. So, first, let's just contextualize exactly where we are today, which is our HSR waiting period has expired in the United States, which means that if we were cleared everywhere else in the world, we could close in the U.S. tomorrow. We've received regulatory approvals in basically Germany and Slovenia, and we have been engaging since our tender with really regulatory bodies -- you know, with the regulatory bodies around the world. We've done that across the E.U., in LatAm. We're -- obviously, you know, we've met with all the Democratic state A.G.s. We've met with the Republican A.G.s. And we're going to continue to basically collaborate obviously with regulators throughout this process. In terms of basically, you know, whether or not they can slow us down, as I said, we could technically close tomorrow, but also at the end of the day, we're all governed by the law. And the reality of this is there is nothing in this transaction that trips anything that would create cause for concern. And again, if you look at what we've done historically from a job creation standpoint, you know, since we've been at Paramount, we've greenlit 11 movies. We've doubled the output of the film slate. When we first got here, we're on the iconic Paramount lot, this studio had eight movies on the release calendar for this year. We're going to release 16 movies this year and we've greenlit 11 films since we've been here. Cindy Holland has allowed -- has basically increased and greenlit 11 more original series to the P Plus slate. We've added, as we talked about on our earnings call, over $1.5 billion basically to the P Plus content budget, and that creates jobs. And I think when you really look at the alternative, which was this company was going to be sold, it was going to be sold to Netflix, or it was going to be sold to us, our deal is pro-competitive and good for the creator and good for creators. Basically, the creative ecosystem now has more places to sell and more scaled buyers and consumers now have more choices.

FABER:  Yes. No, I understand the competitive argument and it's one I'll be curious to see how the state A.G. feels. You know, on that front though in terms of job losses, David, a lot of concerns, certainly when you put CNN and CBS -- well, I don't want to say put them together, but I wonder, is that kind of part of the plan in terms of news gathering? And what do you tell employees of CNN at this point, as they are concerned about their own future at that network?

ELLISON:  So, what I can tell you is we feel incredibly fortunate. CNN is an incredible brand with an incredible team. And we absolutely believe in, you know, the independence that needs to be maintained obviously for those incredible journalists, and we want to support that going forward. CNN and CBS News are brands that we also really want to be a part of transitioning to streaming so that consumers have the choice. If they want to watch our incredible news brands on broadcast, they can do that. If they want to watch on cable, they can do that. But we also want to create a world to where if they want watch on streaming, they can do that, and where we can really meet consumers where they are. We're going to invest in the news business. And we think this is going to -- this transaction will be a positive for both CBS News and CNN.

BOORSTIN:  You said a number of times -- oh, sorry.

FABER:  Sorry, go ahead. No, Julia, go ahead. I'm sorry.

BOORSTIN:  You've just said a number of times that this is good for consumers, and you've also said that you're going to be merging Paramount Plus and HBO. There are a lot of questions about what that looks like and how much more you might be charging for this combined service. Can you give us any insight into what this is actually going to look like from a consumer standpoint?

ELLISON:  No, absolutely. So, I think, look, let's look at what we're offering versus what the alternative was, right? So, I think you have to actually compare what the two deals were on the table. One was Netflix that has 325 million subscribers, that if they were -- had to basically acquired WBD, it would have been twice the size of the nearest competitor. With us, when you put basically HBO Max and Paramount Plus together, you know, once you de-dupe for the overlap, you're a little bit under 200 million subscribers, to contextualize Disney's 195 million subscribers, Amazon's 200. That creates a healthier ecosystem that gives consumers more choice in terms of what they want to pay for. It's going to be a significantly beneficial content offering that they're going to get. You're going to get "Yellowstone," you know, basically, and "Game of Thrones" on the same service. I think that's going to be pretty powerful. And, again, for the creator economy, which I was a part of, I mean, look, I spent 15 years of my life selling to this ecosystem. And having another scaled buyer as a place that where we want to grow and our only way to obviously grow and to get to first place in streaming is to invest more in content. That's going to be good for the creator economy. It's going to be good for Hollywood.

BOORSTIN:  But that didn't answer my question. Are you going to combine these two services and then raise the price of what people are paying for HBO, or what's the plan there?

ELLISON:  So, we're absolutely going to put the services together. You know, we don't have anything to comment on pricing at this moment.

BOORSTIN:  Yes. And then the other question, you've mentioned technology a number of times, how big a role do you see A.I. playing in helping you bring down these costs as you look to manage that leverage?

ELLISON:  So, look, A.I. is here and it's going to be, you know, transformative across all aspects of the business. The way that we really look at artificial intelligence is really as a tool for artists. I do not believe that A.I. is a replacement for human creativity. I really view it as a force multiplier for basically filmmakers in the creative communities to be able to realize their visions more fully and think it's going to be an incredibly powerful tool for this industry.

FABER:  David, me again. You know, unfortunately, the world we live in has a political overlay on almost everything going on in the corporate world, certainly when it comes to news organizations. And there is certainly a perception and/or a fear perhaps that once you take control of CNN and given the changes you've made at CBS, that you will be more beholden to the Trump administration. Can you address that -- that potential fear, at least on the part of many?

ELLISON:  Yes. No, David. So, look, I've said this since the beginning, which is, you know, for -- when it really comes to -- editorial independence will absolutely be maintained. It's maintained at CBS. It'll be maintained at CNN. And, really, who we want to talk to is the 70 percent of Americans and really around the world that identify as center-left, at center-right? And we want to be in the truth business. We want to be in the trust business. And that's not going to change.

FABER:  And finally, David, for me at least, I mean, your father, Larry Ellison, your partners at RedBird, many others, I mean, your guys are putting up $47 billion in equity and you're buying that at $16.2 a Paramount share, so above where the stock is right now. You know, what can you tell our viewers in terms of your expectations for how this stock is going to perform given all the challenges obviously Julia and I have just laid out for you.

ELLISON:  Yes. So, David, just to level set, obviously, the price was basically set by the Paramount independent directors that obviously work with third parties, completely independent of us, to basically determine and set the price, you know? And we're the largest shareholder in Paramount. We're going to be the largest shareholder in the combined company. And, you know, we're really dedicated to creating, you know, long-term value for these businesses. And, candidly, we couldn't be more optimistic about what we're going to be able to build here with these incredible companies.

BOORSTIN:  Just finally wrapping up with a question about the legacy assets, because the big difference between your offer and Netflix's offer was that you were also buying the legacy linear assets, whereas Netflix was only interested in studio and streaming. We've seen Versant's stock, CNBC's parent company's stock, drop after it went public. Does that raise questions for you about the long-term value of these legacy assets given the conversation about the difference between your offer and Netflix's offer?

ELLISON:  So, I don't think you can really look at the over -- so, again, a couple of pieces. One, there's a tremendous amount of cash flow that's obviously generated from those businesses, which we think is very advantageous. We can prolong the life of that linear business given the synergies and given the combined portfolio. But, really, when you look at the strength of the combined studios and streaming portfolio, this really puts us in a position to where we immediately get to scale and streaming. We have a creative content library that allows us to compete with the most scaled players in the business and really build the media company of the future, and we couldn't be more excited about what's ahead.

BOORSTIN:  Well, fascinating new chapter for Hollywood and we hope to continue having these conversations on our air. David Ellison, thank you so much for joining us here today.

ELLISON:  Thank you for having me.