WBD Sales Chiefs Acknowledge The “Ellison In The Room”, Nodding To Paramount Deal At Upfront

Warner Bros. Discovery co-heads of sales Ryan Gould and Robert “Bobby” Voltaggio kicked off the company’s upfront Wednesday by acknowledging the looming $110 billion Paramount acquisition.

“Before we go on, we do want to address the Ellison – I mean, the elephant in the room,” Gould said, alluding to Paramount CEO David Ellison (and perhaps also his father, Oracle billionaire and merger backer Larry Ellison). “Listen, we don’t deflect. That’s not who we are. Everyone here knows that there’s change ahead, and that there’s change in our company. But there’s change across the entire media industry.”

Paramount and WBD have said the deal is on track to close by September. It has already been approved by a number of regulatory agencies as well as WBD shareholders. Several state attorneys general have been reviewing the transaction and considering legal action. A petition against the deal has drawn thousands of signatures from those working in the entertainment creative community.

“We’re well aware that your business is changing, too,” Voltaggio said. “But we believe that success is a team effort. So our best-in-class organization, the human people you know and trust so well, are here to help guide you through this transition.”

As Gould mentioned, the core of WBD has been through a number of mergers in recent years. Paramount would be its fourth corporate owner in eight years. Under the Time Warner, the company was sold to AT&T in an $85 billion combination proposed in 2016 but completed in 2018 after a lengthy antitrust fight with the U.S. government. After a rocky run under AT&T, WarnerMedia was then merged with Discovery Communications in a $43 billion deal that closed in 2022.

The upfront positioning of the Warner assets has also evolved significantly over those years, with the rise of streaming flagship HBO Max enabling advertising to be placed in front of Warner Bros. films and HBO series. While those brand elements are limited, the presence of ads was long unthinkable for the former premium cable network. Even after launching HBO Max in 2020, WarnerMedia took a cautious approach to promoting HBO and Warner Bros. brands at the upfront. By 2026, they were dominant themes in the upfront pitch.