Onstage at an Upfronts presentation on Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery’s ad sales heads addressed the elephant in the room: This may be the company’s last such presentation, if their company’s $111 billion mega-merger with Paramount is consummated.
Presidents of U.S. advertising sales Bobby Voltaggio and Ryan Gould addressed the topic early in the presentation at New York’s Theater at Madison Square Garden with a fake Freudian slip. “Good partnership is what drives us here at Warner Bros. Discovery, so before we go on, we do want to address the Ellison — I mean the elephant — in the room,” Voltaggio said.
“Listen, we don’t deflect, that’s not who we are,” Gould added. “Everyone here knows that there’s change ahead and that there’s change at our company. But there’s change across the entire media industry. And we’re well aware that your business is changing, too. But we believe that success is a team effort, so our best-in-class organization, the team and people you know and trust so well, are here to help guide you through this transition.”
Voltaggio concluded, “You see, we’ve been through change and challenges before, we don’t flinch, we meet the moment and continue to push forward in your best interests.”
Whether their words will soothe the nerves of advertisers as the controversial merger meets skepticism, and in some cases outright resistance — from state attorneys general, at least one California gubernatorial candidate and Hollywood celebrities — remains to be seen.
Paramount CEO David Ellison and his team have worked hard to win hearts and minds, promising a theatrical commitment for 30 films a year and arguing that the megadeal will preserve jobs. But his courting of President Trump on the deal, which would include news channel CNN, has continued to raised alarm bells for some. Others have felt the merger will cement a decline for traditional Hollywood as it loses another historic studio.
More to come.
