Paramount’s merger: all the news on the drawn-out takeover drama – The Verge

Paramount is now a Skydance Corporation

2025-08-19T19:34:48-04:00

It's official: Skydance Media's deal to purchase CBS parent company Paramount Global for $8 billion is complete, and incoming chairman / CEO David Ellison's first order of business is a massive restructuring.

In an open letter about his plans for Paramount, a Skydance Corporation (the merged companies' new name), Ellison announced that, going forward, the business will be split into three distinct units: studios, direct-to-consumer, and TV media. Ellison explained that the restructuring is meant to boost efficiency as the new company prepares to transition its entire enterprise to a single technology platform for the first time.

"In doing …

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Paramount-Skydance merger approved after companies agree to government speech demands

2025-08-19T19:34:37-04:00

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved Skydance's $8 billion purchase of CBS-owner Paramount after the companies agreed to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs but feature a "diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum."

In light of the Trump administration's critiques of CBS's alleged anti-conservative bias - including collecting a $16 million settlement over the president's lawsuit over an allegedly deceptively edited video of then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes - the companies' commitment to address bias in the lawsuit likely means featuring mo …

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Paramount agrees to pay Trump $16 million, clearing way for multibillion-dollar merger

2025-08-19T19:34:25-04:00

Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to resolve President Donald Trump's lawsuit against its subsidiary CBS, clearing a path for the administration to approve the media giant's multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media.

In a statement seen by CNN on Tuesday night, Paramount said the settlement payment is inclusive of Trump's legal fees and costs, and that the money will be allocated to his future presidential library instead of being paid to Trump directly. The sum is below the $10 billion (later increased to $20 billion) in damages sought by Trump when he filed the lawsuit in October, alleging that CBS News had deceptively edited a …

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CBS considers caving on Trump censorship lawsuit to save Paramount merger

2025-01-17T20:31:23-05:00

A law professor cited by CBS News called Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris "…so ill grounded that it comes close to being sanctionable as frivolous." But now, the The Wall Street Journal reports that executives at CBS' parent company, Paramount Global, have discussed settling the suit while "gaming out options to reduce friction with the incoming administration" ahead of a government review of its merger with Skydance.

The paper reports that incoming FCC chairman and censor-in-chief Brendan Carr warned execs last year that presidential dissatisfaction with CBS News will make a r …

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Hopefully, this new PARAMOUNT logo won’t stick around for long

2024-07-14T20:55:47-04:00

This probably isn’t Paramount’s new logo. | Image: Paramount

If you didn't know Paramount Global is set to merge with Skydance, then the logo included in their recent investor presentation would like to share an important update. Under its traditional mountain and stars, it shouts PARAMOUNT, using the all-caps styling and arched text of the Skydance logo instead of a more gently whispered Paramount.

It's… not good. But, like the very bad Warner Bros. Discovery logo that appeared in 2021 when their merger was announced but disappeared by the time the deal closed a year later, it's unlikely this is the final version of whatever redesign Paramount might cook up. If and when the deal gets done, the logo …

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Paramount agrees to sweetened Skydance merger deal

2024-07-08T07:46:25-04:00

Skydance founder David Ellison is set to become Paramount’s new chairman and chief executive. | Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Paramount Global has agreed to merge with Skydance Media in a deal that will see the joint enterprise, temporarily dubbed "New Paramount," valued at approximately $28 billion.

As part of the two-step agreement announced on Sunday, Paramount Chair Shari Redstone (the daughter of Sumner Redstone) will sell National Amusements - which holds her family's controlling stake in Paramount - for $2.4 billion. Skydance will then merge with Paramount, investing $8 billion to purchase Paramount's shares and pay off some of the company's balance sheet. Bloomberg reports that Paramount has $14.6 billion of debt as of March, partially attributed to stream …

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Paramount’s rumored merger with Skydance is off

2024-06-11T17:17:24-04:00

Following weeks of discussions, Paramount's potential merger deal with Skydance has fallen apart, as reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal. In a statement on Tuesday, Paramount's parent company, National Amusements, said the companies couldn't "reach mutually acceptable terms" for its deal with Skydance Media.

One possible issue may have been Skydance's decision not to include legal protection that would shield National Amusements head Shari Redstone from a lawsuit filed by shareholders, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter. The WSJ reports that now, Redstone is "likely" to pursue a sale of National Amusements without try …

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Paramount CEO Bob Bakish steps down as merger inches closer

2024-04-29T16:09:21-04:00

Paramount has removed Bob Bakish as CEO - and it doesn't have plans to fill the role. The company announced the news as part of its earnings results on Monday, which will leave Paramount reliant on a committee made up of three executives.

The new Office of the CEO consists of George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS; Chris McCarthy, the president and CEO of Showtime, MTV Entertainment Studios, and Paramount Media Networks; and Brian Robbins, the president and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon. Reports first emerged of Bakish's potential departure on Friday.

Bakish has been with the company since 1997 and became CEO of Viacom in …

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Now Peacock and Paramount Plus are discussing a merger, too

2024-02-16T11:09:33-05:00

First it was Warner Bros. Discovery eyeing Paramount Plus. Next it was Byron Allen. Now news comes that Comcast, the owner of Peacock, may be entertaining a merger with the beleaguered Paramount. Everyone seems to be kicking the tires on the storied entertainment business.

In Comcast's case it may make sense. Both Paramount Plus and Peacock have been working hard to court subscribers in order to further solidify their respective statuses as lasting players in the streaming space. According to a new report, the platforms' parent companies could be considering a unique partnership.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Comcast and Paramount h …

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A merging of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount would be very bad

2023-12-22T09:00:00-05:00

This week, Axios broke the news that Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount were looking into some sort of merger. It would make sense: Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to become a content behemoth, and Paramount would give the company even more content plus a grouping of popular (as they can be in this age) broadcast and cable channels. It would further secure Warner Bros. Discovery's control over tentpole IP and allow it to serve as an even more potent rival to Disney and Netflix.

It would also be very bad for all of us who just want to watch some shows after work or school. In 2023, we finally saw the future envisioned by the companies beh …

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