Skydance
Media & entertainment · United States
Skydance owns the Paramount and Warner Bros. studios, CBS, HBO, CNN and cable networks, and the Paramount+ and HBO Max streamers, earning from subscriptions, carriage fees, advertising and licensing.
What makes it different
Public shareholders have no vote at all.
100%Voting shares held by Harbor LightsOct 2026
Only Class A shares vote, and the Ellison family and RedBird hold all of them through Harbor Lights.
How big it is
How big is Skydance?
$66.1BCombined revenue, pro formaFY2025
203MStreaming subscribersQ3 2026
15,000+Films in the libraryQ3 2026
How it makes money 9M 2026
TV still earns the most, streaming is catching up.
- TV Media$9.8B
- Direct-to-Consumer$7.4B
- Studios$4.1B
How the business works
Make once. Sell it on every screen.
- 1Paramount and Warner Bros. films, series, sports
- 2CBS, CNN, TNT, HBO Max, Paramount+
- 3Subscriptions, carriage fees, ads, licensing
Two studios feed two streaming services and a large TV portfolio, and the TV cash pays for the move to streaming.
Brands and businesses
More than Skydance.
Who owns it
The Ellison family controls it through Harbor Lights.
- Ellison Family (Lawrence and David Ellison)35%
- RedBird Capital Partners11%
CEO: David Ellison
Who it competes with
AmazonKey moments
- 1914Paramount Pictures is founded
- 1928Paley builds CBS from a radio network
- 1981MTV debuts as a cable channel
- 1993Viacom acquires Paramount Pictures
- 2019Viacom and CBS reunite in a $12 billion merger
Full profile
Everything else about Skydance.
What it tracks · 21 metrics · FY2025
- Streaming subscribers, Paramount+, HBO and HBO Max203MQ3 2026
- Paramount+ subscribers82.2MQ3 2026
- Pluto TV monthly active users75MQ3 2026
- Top-10 most-watched series produced7Q3 2026
- NFL on CBS average viewers19.6M2026
- Films in the library15,000+Q3 2026
- Paramount Pictures releases152026
- Streaming markets130+Q3 2026
- Cable networks50+Q3 2026
- Owned CBS television stations29
- Employees, Paramount Skydance17,600
- Employees, Warner Bros. Discovery35,500
- Paramount+ monthly ARPU$8.69Q3 2026
- Franchises with $1B+ revenue~40past 15 years
- Paramount+ revenue$2.1BQ3 2026
- Revenue$7.0BQ3 2026
- Adjusted EBITDA$1.0BQ3 2026
- Combined revenue, pro forma$66.1B
- Content spend, pro forma$30B+2026
- Free cash flow$31MQ3 2026
- Gross debt after closing$87B2026
Five years of results
| FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | 5 yrs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paramount revenue (before WBD) | $28.6B | $30.2B | $29.7B | $29.2B | $29.4B | +3% | |
| Paramount operating income (before WBD) | $6.3B | $2.3B | -$451M | -$5.3B | $934M | −85% | |
| Paramount adjusted OIBDA (before WBD) | $4.4B | $3.3B | $2.4B | $3.1B | $3.1B | −31% | |
| Paramount operating margin (before WBD) | 22.0% | 7.8% | -1.5% | -18.0% | 3.2% | −18.9 pp |
Paramount revenue (before WBD)
$29.4B
+1% vs FY2024
FY2021FY2025
Paramount operating income (before WBD)
$934M
FY2021FY2025
Paramount adjusted OIBDA (before WBD)
$3.1B
−1% vs FY2024
FY2021FY2025
Skydance vs Netflix
| Skydance | Netflix | |
|---|---|---|
| Combined revenue, pro forma | $66.1B | $45.2B |
| Streaming subscribers | 203M | 325M |
| Films in the library | 15,000+ | 16,000 |
The full timeline
- 1914Paramount Pictures is founded
- 1928Paley builds CBS from a radio network
- 1937CBS lists on the New York Stock Exchange
- 1976Viacom launches Showtime
- 1979Nickelodeon launches
- 1981MTV debuts as a cable channel
- 1991Comedy Central launches
- 1993Viacom acquires Paramount Pictures
- 1997CBS Corporation is established
- 2000Viacom and CBS merge
- 2001Viacom acquires BET
- 2005Board approves the split of CBS and Viacom
- 2015CBS All Access debuts
- 2019Viacom acquires Pluto TV
- 2019Viacom and CBS reunite in a $12 billion merger
- 2021CBS All Access is rebranded Paramount+
- 2022ViacomCBS becomes Paramount Global
- 8-07Skydance transaction closes
- 0-23Paramount completes the sale of Telefe
- 2-08Paramount Skydance bids for Warner Bros. Discovery
- 2-27Merger agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery
- 4-23WBD shareholders approve the deal
- 9-30States consent decree clears the closing
- 0-06Warner Bros. Discovery acquired; company becomes Skydance
- 1-09Paramount+ and HBO Max bundle announced
Every source document
- Skydance Corporation Form 10-Q for Q3 2026 ↗ Q3 2026
- Skydance Q3 2026 shareholder letter (Form 8-K Exhibit 99) ↗ Q3 2026
- Form 8-K: completion of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, name change to Skydance Corporation, NYSE listing as SKYD, $41.4B secured notes, PIPE shares ↗
- Press release: Paramount completes acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, creating Skydance (8-K Exhibit 99.1) ↗
- Unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial statements, Paramount Skydance + WBD, FY2025 and H1 2026 (8-K Exhibit 99.2) ↗ FY2025
- Form 8-K: Ynon Kreiz appointed Co-Chief Executive Officer and director effective October 5, 2026; WBD closing expected October 6, 2026 ↗
- Form 8-K: Robert A. Kotick and Laurene Powell Jobs join the Board at the WBD closing ↗
- Form 8-K: Agreement and Plan of Merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, February 27, 2026 ($31.00 per WBD share in cash) ↗
- Form 8-K: proposal and tender offer to acquire all outstanding WBD shares (December 8, 2025) ↗
- Paramount Skydance Corporation Form 10-K for 2025 ↗ FY2025
- Paramount Global Form 10-K for 2024 ↗ FY2024
- Paramount Global Form 10-K for 2022 ↗ FY2022
- Paramount Global XBRL company facts (revenues and operating income FY2021-FY2024) ↗ FY2021-FY2024
- Warner Bros. Discovery Form 8-K: merger completed, WBD a wholly owned subsidiary of SKYD, Nasdaq delisting ↗
- Warner Bros. Discovery Form 8-K: stockholders adopt the merger agreement at the April 23, 2026 special meeting ↗
- Warner Bros. Discovery Form 15: termination of registration and suspension of reporting ↗
- Warner Bros. Discovery Form 10-K for 2025 ↗ FY2025
- Warner Bros. Discovery Form 10-Q for Q2 2026 (its last periodic report) ↗ Q2 2026
- Warner Bros. Discovery XBRL company facts (revenues FY2021-FY2025) ↗ FY2021-FY2025
- Paramount history (archived copy of paramount.com/about/history, 1 Sep 2026; the live URL now redirects to skydance.com/about) ↗
- Skydance corporate website (paramount.com and wbd.com redirect here) ↗
- Skydance Corporation SEC filings (CIK 2041610; formerly Paramount Skydance Corporation) ↗
- Warner Bros. Discovery SEC filings (CIK 1437107; no longer reporting) ↗
Questions
Skydance: questions and answers
What does Skydance do?
Skydance owns the Paramount and Warner Bros. studios, CBS, HBO, CNN and cable networks, and the Paramount+ and HBO Max streamers, earning from subscriptions, carriage fees, advertising and licensing.
Who owns Skydance?
The Ellison family controls it through Harbor Lights. Largest shareholders: Ellison Family (Lawrence and David Ellison) (35%) and RedBird Capital Partners (11%). Its chief executive is David Ellison.
How does Skydance make money?
TV still earns the most, streaming is catching up.
How big is Skydance?
Combined revenue, pro forma: $66.1B (FY2025). Streaming subscribers: 203M (Q3 2026). Films in the library: 15,000+ (Q3 2026).
Who are Skydance's competitors?
Skydance competes with Netflix, The Walt Disney Company, Comcast, Amazon and Alphabet.
Where is Skydance based?
Skydance is based in New York and was founded in 1914.
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Sources
Every number on this page comes from Skydance's own reports.
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