• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 5 hours ago

Amid a very bumpy start -- and even stronger analysis of what will come with new ownership -- the new owners of the company now called Paramount talked up technology, content and competition just after their $8 billion deal.

Are they leaving anything out?

David Ellison, now CEO of Paramount, in a press briefing on Thursday talked about building a technology product that is “truly competitive” -- and building a “single tech stack” for the entire company. He did not otherwise address the many future operational changes. 

Ellison may also be thinking about how to compete with the bigger competitors that are already out there.

Executives have mulled over why Netflix, for one, can figure out exactly what works with their audiences and what doesn’t. Why are they way ahead of nearly all premium streaming services in this regard?

Jeff Shell, the coming president of Paramount (and former NBCU chief executive) said there was a lot of tech "plumbing" that needs to be handled, which is important to the future of the business.

Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney, has talked up the strength of Netflix’s back-office technical server operations. Netflix certainly has the scale to make major content investments -- and to make mistakes. But that isn’t always enough when it comes to what their subscribers want.

For his part, Iger always has touted his closeness with creatives when it comes to letting them have a vision and control over content.

Ellison doesn’t exactly believe that legacy TV-based network media companies are as truly focused on streaming as they could be -- giving platforms all they need to succeed. This may be because of their distraction with linear TV networks still bringing in high operating income.

“You have a balkanized [emphasis added] situation between technology and content, between Silicon Valley and Hollywood,” says Gerry Cardinale, CEO of RedBird Capital, a key financial Skydance Media backer of the $8 billion deal to acquire Paramount Global.

At the same time, and to no one’s surprise, Ellison says they are open to deal-making -- and perhaps a little coy about exactly what that means.

At the same time, there was discussion over those recent big news stories on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” cancellation -- coming right after some high-level criticism by Colbert of Paramount’s $16 million settlement with the Trump administration.

At the press conference, George Cheeks, chair of TV Media, reiterated why the move was made: the advertising market is weak in late night programming and the show was already losing money -- around $50 million a year.

It's kind of a rerun explanation. Still, he says Skydance is talking about an “investment” going forward in prime time and sports. Surely viewers will be happy to see some fresh ideas and content.