The news: Paramount Skydance’s first real quarter under David Ellison wasn’t a blockbuster, but it was enough to keep audiences in their seats. The company’s results landed roughly where Wall Street expected, and shares jumped more than 10% after Ellison’s team paired a sober set of numbers with a far more exciting narrative: Paramount is done surviving; now, it’s ready to move.

• The new management team walked into this quarter still integrating Skydance, cutting redundancies, and convincing investors the $7.7 billion deal was more than financial engineering.
• Ellison and president Jeff Shell lifted synergy targets from $2 billion to $3 billion, announced plans to ramp up film and TV output, and doubled down on streaming. Ellison also teased “buy versus build” ambitions without naming names—but with three unsolicited bids already lobbed at Warner Bros. Discovery, the subtext was loud.
• Paramount+ subscribers will soon get access to UFC fights at a modest price increase. It’s the kind of move that signals faith in audience loyalty and engagement, not a scramble to stop users from canceling.

Why it matters: Paramount Skydance is trying to pull off reinvention at speed, a rare accomplishment in modern media.

• The company is shedding legacy cost structures while pouring cash into content and technology, betting that efficiencies can fund growth. It’s an audacious plan—and one that puts Ellison squarely in the ring with WBD’s David Zaslav, Comcast (NBCUniversal)’s Brian Roberts, and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos in a reshuffled power hierarchy.
• Wall Street is intrigued but cautious. Bank of America’s Jessica Reif Ehrlich dubbed the approach “Sky High Ambitions But Patience Required”—an apt subtitle for a company still tightening the bolts on a jet mid-flight.
• Others noted deja vu: The mix of synergy upgrades and lowered profit guidance feels familiar to anyone who remembers WBD’s rocky post-merger years.