Paramount Skydance is reportedly preparing an all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, and it's much more than just another merger headline. Hot on the heels of the recent Paramount-Skydance merger and with David Ellison at the helm, the move looks like a high stakes play to harness the power of fandom itself. The idea is to build streaming dominance not by chasing subscribers, but by locking in die-hard subcultures around iconic IP. If successful, the deal would unite DC, HBO, and Star Trek under one roof and arm Paramount with a franchise arsenal strong enough to take on Netflix and Disney.
Industry veteran Tommy Shull, the Principal and Executive Producer at the award-winning creative studio STUCK IN MOTION, sees the rumored bid as more than financial maneuvering. To him, it reveals a deliberate blueprint for how Ellison plans to compete in the streaming wars, one that centers on winning over loyal audiences through specific, powerful IP.
"David Ellison is clearly saying it’s about IPs, it’s about subcultures, and it’s about getting subscribers who already have built-in, loyal fan bases," Shull said. He emphasized that the rumored bid isn’t scattershot but highly deliberate, zeroing in on the WarnerMedia assets that fit an IP-first vision and leaving the rest behind. To Shull, that precision shows Ellison isn’t just chasing scale but deliberately building a portfolio designed to unlock the deepest wells of fan loyalty.
All-in on streaming: "There’s a reason he’s not looking at Discovery," Shull said, referring to the recent Warner Bros. Discovery split. "Of the two companies available, he specifically chose WarnerMedia because that aligns with his bigger overall picture of where he wants Paramount to be. He’s all in on streaming." Shull noted that this precision shows Ellison isn’t just chasing size but intentionally targeting the scripted franchises with the deepest fan loyalty.
IP, no gimmicks: It’s also a direct response to one of streaming’s biggest headaches: churn. Too often, platforms lean on steep discounts to keep customers from leaving, a sign of how fragile tech-first subscriber models can be. "I think that he recognizes the modern subscriber's true power and that you have to have incredible IPs. You have to have franchises," Shull explained. Ellison’s IP-first approach, which Shull has described as a brand’s true strength, suggests a longer-term bet that fandom can do what pricing gimmicks can’t—keep people subscribed.
That contrast becomes sharpest when stacked against Netflix, a platform with plenty of global reach but only a handful of enduring franchises. "It's a lot more challenging for Netflix because while they have Stranger Things and a few others, they don't really have very strong franchises. Not in the way that Disney, Paramount, or Warner does," Shull said.
Ride or die fanbase: The goal is to build a portfolio of content that appeals to specific, dedicated fanbases. "You don't need to get everybody," he added. "You need to cherry-pick away at the subcultures." Shull said this strategy taps into the powerful loyalty of these subcultures, using his own fandom as an example of the dynamic Ellison is tapping into. "I've been a huge Alien fan since I was a kid, and anything Alien, I'll check out," he explained, "even if it's kind of terrible."
Heavyweight move: "I feel for the first time, it's not just an M&A; it's a real investment," Shull stated. "When the ink was barely dry, they made a $7.7 billion investment on streaming rights for UFC. That showed they are serious and ready to go." With Netflix and Amazon pushing hard into live sports and entertainment, Paramount Skydance is signaling the same intent: the UFC deal, an expanding NFL partnership, and the VMAs shift to CBS and Paramount+ all underscore that "Ellison sees live sports and events as a core pillar of their offerings," Shull said.
Ellison's edge: Ellison's production-first background, he argued, is a key differentiator. "Ellison has bought a media company that he understands," Shull said. "He comes from a production world that has been in the business a very long time, and they understand premium content, relationships, and distribution. Skydance has weathered a lot of challenging storms."
The potential endgame of this IP acquisition spree could be the creation of a single, bundled content ecosystem. The strategy suggests a future where one subscription houses a vast library of franchises, leveraging the power of its combined subcultures to mitigate churn and create a more stable subscriber base. It's a vision that bets not on scale alone, but on the enduring power of fandom in the streaming wars.
