Paramount's planned $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery — the largest media merger in history — can proceed imminently after Paramount reached a deal with the states to settle their antitrust lawsuit. The proposed consent decree, publicly released by the states, contains commitments and penalties that will shape the film and television industry for years to come. Here are ten numbers that explain what the deal means and why they will be top of mind for David Ellison and company.

5 years — the length of WarnerMount's commitments. The merged company, already nicknamed WarnerMount, must honor its concessions for a full five years. It must keep both studio lots, in Hollywood and Burbank, operating and developed. It must negotiate cable channel terms as if Warner Bros. Discovery's and Paramount's channels remain separate entities. It must keep the free, ad-supported streamer Pluto TV active, pay a $9.5 million annual community investment for workforce training, and sustain the same level of access to its film library for repertory theaters. WarnerMount can begin tweaking its film rental terms with movie theaters only after three years.

32 — theatrical films required in years three through five. Ellison has frequently promised 30 films annually across the two studios. The consent decree specifies that as the minimum for 2027 and 2028, but from 2029 to 2031 the minimum rises to 32. Of those 32, 21 must be wide releases on over 3,000 screens, and 20 percent must be tentpoles with budgets of $50 million or more. At least half must be produced or co-produced by Paramount and Warner Bros., and at least four must be "independent films" — titles not produced by either company or the other major studios. Re-releases and anniversary releases of older titles do not count. The five-year extension ensures Paramount cannot simply rely on movies already in the pipeline; it has to develop new material.

12 months — the window to sell Miramax if release targets are missed. As a penalty for falling short, the states require WarnerMount to sell its stake in Miramax within a relatively timely fashion. Some will argue the absence of mandatory divestitures signals the agreement's weakness. But the stake is real: Miramax made this year's hit comedy "Scary Movie 6" for Paramount and the Paramount+ series "CopLand," and its library spans "Shakespeare in Love," "Rounders" and "Pulp Fiction."

$30 million — the penalty payment to union funds. If WarnerMount falls short on production, it must pay $30 million into the healthcare and retirement funds of the WGA, DGA, IATSE and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. California AG Rob Bonta said this puts money back into workers' hands if U.S. production jobs dry up. The penalty runs $30 million per film under the minimum, so costs can add up quickly.

$300 million — additional annual U.S. production spend. Paramount has committed to spending an extra $300 million annually on U.S. film and TV production — $1.5 billion over the five-year term, on top of what it spent in 2025. Paramount spent roughly $15.2 billion on total content in 2025, including sports deals, while WBD spent $19.5 billion; Paramount's spend has historically trailed Netflix, Disney and Universal. Critics note the money is not specifically allocated to California, but the state attorneys general said Paramount currently spends only about 5 percent of its production budget in the U.S., so the commitment is an improvement. If a federal film tax incentive passes, carveouts require domestic production levels of at least 20 percent in the first two years and 30 percent after that.

$5 million — the annual independent film fund. Acquisitions will clearly play a part in hitting annual targets. Paramount brought on Lia Buman to head its Republic Pictures banner, and Warner Bros. launched the Clockwork banner led by former Neon executive Christian Parkes. Still, $25 million over five years is roughly the price of one "CODA" out of Sundance, and there is no clear sense yet of where the $5 million annually will go.

$80 billion — the debt WarnerMount carries at closing. David Ellison and his father, Larry Ellison, are wealthy, but the post-merger debt load is staggering. Ellison's team must finance at least 30 films a year, acquire sports programming as prices climb, and develop water-cooler shows while paying down nearly $80 billion. Paramount brass has identified more than $6 billion in cost savings, but thousands of layoffs alone will not fix the balance sheet. AT&T could not make the numbers work when it owned Warner Bros.; David Zaslav paid down some debt but always planned to sell — and convincing Ellison to pay $31 a share was a masterstroke. At some point, the bill comes due.

325 million — Netflix's paid subscribers. That figure, as of 2025, was up from 301.2 million a year prior, when Netflix stopped publicly reporting subscribers. HBO Max commands 140 million paying global subscribers as of early 2026; Paramount+ has 79.6 million. Combined, WarnerMount would reach nearly 220 million, with some analysts predicting more than 240 million by 2030. But merging the services brings technical headaches: Paramount+ carries far more live programming, HBO Max has greater global reach, and pricing the new bundle without alienating cost-conscious customers remains unresolved. Analysts project nearly 30 percent of subscribers currently pay for both services, meaning overall subscriber numbers will initially take a haircut — really a buzzcut.

2.7 billion — monthly active users on YouTube. The platform is second only to its parent company, Google, in visits. An estimated 85 percent of American adults use YouTube, compared with 53 percent who went to at least one movie last year. YouTube users watch over 1 billion hours of video daily, more than any other service, including TikTok. For a company specializing in movies and TV, keeping those forms at the center of the culture will define Ellison's success. His biggest competition isn't another "Stranger Things" — it's the next MrBeast.

1 — a company with everything to prove. Ellison outspent Netflix, made good with the movie theaters, and won over Tom Cruise and James Cameron by convincing them he was the right person to lead both historic studios. Running WBD frequently made Zaslav the villain around town, and the Ellison family's closeness with Donald Trump isn't helping him with certain audiences. The merger is happening now. Ellison just has to make it work — and that is the really hard part.