Ellison defends Paramount-Warner mega-merger in NYT op-ed amid antitrust battles

Paramount CEO David Ellison publicly defends the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger in a New York Times op-ed, rejecting claims it would consolidate control or threaten newsroom independence. He argues the merged company would hold less than 20% of US TV viewing (about 13% when accounting for YouTube) amid competition from Netflix, Amazon and Apple, and pledges substantial content investment—30 theatrical films and 170 TV series annually backed by over $30 billion. The deal faces antitrust lawsuits from 12 state attorneys general and the WGA; DOJ and some international regulators have approved it, but domestic progress is paused with the trial rescheduled for March 2, 2027.