The Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger is officially done — but the real work has just begun. Skydance, now helming the combined entity, has confirmed that both studio lots will stay open for at least five years, as mandated by a settlement with state attorneys general. That means no immediate fire sale of Hollywood’s most iconic backlots. But what happens next? The answer lies in a quiet reorganisation: film on one lot, TV and streaming on the other. And yes, that means a cross-town commute for some of the biggest names in entertainment. 

David Ellison, CEO of Skydance, laid out the plan during a press event on the Paramount lot Tuesday, hours after the merger closed. He didn’t spell it out in full, but the logic is clear: Warner Bros. In Burbank, the larger of the two, will house film production. Paramount’s Hollywood lot, with its golden arches and legacy, will become the home for television and streaming. 

That shift puts Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein. Co-chairs of the motion picture group, firmly rooted at Paramount. Channing Dungey, head of Warner Bros. Television Group and basic cable networks, stays put at Warner Bros. But George Cheeks, Casey Bloys, JB Perrette, David Stapf, and Matt Thunell? They’ll be packing up their desks and heading west. CBS Entertainment, CBS Studios, and CBS Media Ventures are also returning to a studio lot after leaving the CBS Studios Center in Radford in 2022. Their new base? The Sunset Gower offices in Hollywood, which already host several Paramount units. 

Meanwhile, the streaming operations. HBO Max and Paramount+, will finally get a single address. Right now, they’re scattered across Culver City, the Paramount lot, and Nickelodeon’s Burbank HQ. The new hub? The Warner Bros. Second Century Development, adjacent to the Warner Bros. Lot. That’s where HBO had planned to relocate before the WBD sales process stalled. Now, it’s getting repurposed. 

So why keep both lots if they’re being split like this? Because the law says so. For now. The settlement requires Skydance to maintain both studios as separate entities for five years. But insiders aren’t buying the long-term promise. One Deadline source quipped: “When, six years from now, these arsonists sell off one of the lots to a real estate developer, I hope Deadline will reprint this piece as evidence of what willful suckers so many people have been through this entire process.” 

And the mood isn’t just cynical. Analysts are warning that Skydance’s shrinking cable business may not survive even the most aggressive cost cuts. One M&A expert told The Ankler the company has “all the factors of what makes mega mergers fail.” Another said the streaming gains won’t make up for the losses. 

The merger is complete. The lots remain. But the question isn’t whether the studios will survive, it’s how long before someone starts selling them off. The clock’s ticking.