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David Ellison wants to turn Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) into a “media and tech” company that could go head-to-head against the likes of Netflix (NFLX), the billionaire told the Financial Times in an interview a day after reaching a deal with Shari Redstone to buy a controlling stake in the entertainment conglomerate.
Ellison reportedly told FT that Paramount needs to adapt faster to the technological advancements that are disrupting Hollywood, from streaming to artificial intelligence.
“We recognize the transition that the broader industry is going through. In order to effectively navigate this transition, what is required for Paramount as a pure-play media company is to transition to becoming a media and technology company,” Ellison told the Financial Times.
Tagging along with his father, Larry Ellison of Oracle, David Ellison has plans to rebuild the technology behind Paramount+ to make it more “consumer-friendly” by improving the algorithm engine that helps users discover new shows, among other things, according to the report.
“There are several things we can do in terms of how the platform is designed to reduce ‘churn’ and maximize time spent on the platform… Content will always be the tip of the spear for Paramount, but it does require technological prowess to be able to effectively navigate and transition the business at this particular moment in time,” he said.
Speaking of going against the incumbent streaming giant Netflix, Jeff Shell, the former CEO of NBC who will become president of the newly merged entity, told FT that Paramount+ will be looking to tie up with other streaming services and for potential bundling agreements.
“We want to be in the streaming business and win the streaming business. We’ve had a number of inbound calls from a lot of different potential partners. If we can find the right partnership agreement with somebody that gets us more scale and also gets us more rapidly to that cash flow break-even point, we’re going to evaluate it,” Shell said.
Netflix is the only streaming service that is “doing technology well right now; it’s a pretty poor experience on every other platform, so, however we end up, with a partner or on our own, we will be the technological leader,” Shell added.