Paramount Pictures,
CBS, and
Viacom each had a history of being associated with one another through a series of various corporate mergers and splits.[10] Paramount Pictures was founded in 1912 as the
Famous Players Film Company.[11] CBS was founded in 1927, which Paramount Pictures held a 49 percent ownership stake in from 1929 to 1932.[12][13] In 1952, CBS formed CBS Television Film Sales, a division which handled syndication rights for CBS's library of network-owned television series. This division was renamed CBS Films in 1958, again renamed CBS Enterprises in January 1968, and finally renamed
Viacom (an acronym of Video and Audio Communications) in 1970. In 1971, this syndication division was
spun off amid new
FCC rules forbidding television networks from
owning syndication companies (these rules were eventually abolished completely in 1993).[14] In 1985, Viacom purchased
MTV Networks and
Showtime/The Movie Channel Inc. from
Warner Communications and
American Express.[15] In 1987, Viacom was acquired by theater operator company
National Amusements.[16]
In 1999, Viacom made its biggest acquisition to date by announcing plans to merge with its former parent CBS Corporation (the renamed
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which had merged with CBS in 1995). The merger was completed in 2000, resulting in CBS reuniting with its former syndication division. On December 31, 2005, Viacom was split into two companies:
CBS Corporation, the former's corporate successor, and the
spun-off Viacom company.[18]
On September 29, 2016,
National Amusements, the parent company of CBS Corporation and Viacom, wrote to Viacom and CBS encouraging the two companies to merge back into one company.[19] On December 12, the deal was called off.[20]
On January 12, 2018,
CNBC reported that Viacom had re-entered talks to merge back into CBS Corporation, after the merger of
AT&T-
Time Warner and
Disney's
proposed acquisition of most of
21st Century Fox's assets were announced. Viacom and CBS also faced heavy competition from companies such as
Netflix and
Amazon.[21] Shortly afterward, it was reported that the combined company could be a suitor for acquiring the film studio
Lionsgate.[22] Viacom and Lionsgate were both interested in acquiring
The Weinstein Company (TWC).[23] Following the
Weinstein effect, Viacom was listed as one of 22 potential buyers that were interested in acquiring TWC.[23] They lost the bid, and on March 1, 2018, it was announced that
Maria Contreras-Sweet would acquire all of TWC's assets for $500 million.[24][25] Lantern Capital would later acquire the studio.
On March 30, 2018, CBS made an all-stock offer slightly below Viacom's market value, insisting that its existing leadership, including long-time chairman and CEO
Les Moonves, oversee the re-combined company. Viacom rejected the offer as too low, requesting a $2.8 billion increase and that
Bob Bakish be maintained as president and COO under Moonves. These conflicts had resulted from
Shari Redstone seeking more control over CBS and its leadership.[26][27]
Eventually, on May 14, 2018, CBS Corporation sued its and Viacom's parent company National Amusements and accused Redstone of abusing her voting power in the company and
forcing a merger that was not supported by it or Viacom.[28][29] CBS also accused Redstone of discouraging
Verizon Communications from acquiring it, which could have been beneficial to its shareholders.[30]
On May 23, 2018, Les Moonves explained that he considered the Viacom channels to be an "
albatross," and while he favored more content for
CBS All Access (now Paramount+), he believed that there were better deals for CBS than the Viacom deal, such as
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),
Lionsgate, or
Sony Pictures. Moonves also considered Bakish a threat because he did not want an ally of Shari Redstone as a board member of the combined company.[31]
On September 9, 2018, Les Moonves exited CBS following multiple accusations of sexual assault. National Amusements agreed to not propose a CBS-Viacom merger for at least two years after the date of the settlement.[32]
On May 30, 2019, CNBC reported that CBS Corporation and Viacom would explore merger discussions in mid-June 2019. CBS's board of directors was revamped with people who were open to merging; the re-merger was made possible with the resignation of Moonves, who had opposed all merger attempts. The talks had started following rumors of CBS acquiring
Starz from Lionsgate.[33] Reports said that CBS and Viacom reportedly set August 8 as an informal deadline for reaching an agreement to recombine the two media companies.[34][35] CBS announced to acquire Viacom as part of the re-merger deal for up to $15.4 billion.[36]
On August 2, 2019, it was reported that CBS and Viacom agreed to merge back into one entity, with both companies agreeing on the management team for the merger. Bob Bakish would serve as CEO of the combined company with the president and acting CEO of CBS,
Joseph Ianniello, overseeing CBS-branded assets.[37] On August 7, 2019, CBS and Viacom separately reported their quarterly earnings as the talks about the re-merger continued.[38][39]
Initial operations
On August 13, 2019, CBS and Viacom officially announced their merger; the combined company was to be named ViacomCBS, with Shari Redstone serving as chair.[40][41][42] Upon the merger agreement, Viacom and CBS jointly announced that the transaction is expected to close by the end of 2019, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.[42] The merger required approval by the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC).[42]
On October 28, 2019, the merger was approved by National Amusements, which then announced the deal would close in early December; the recombined company trades its shares on
Nasdaq under the symbols "VIAC" and "VIACA" after CBS Corporation delisted its shares on the
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).[43][44]
On November 25, 2019, Viacom and CBS announced the merger would close on December 4 and begin trading on NASDAQ on the next day.[45][46] On December 4, 2019, Bakish confirmed that the ViacomCBS merger had closed.[47]
On December 10, 2019, days after the merger, Bakish announced that ViacomCBS would look to divest
Black Rock, the building that held CBS's headquarters since 1964. He stated, "Black Rock is not an asset we need to own and we believe that money would be put to better use elsewhere."[48] On December 20, 2019, ViacomCBS agreed to acquire a 49% minority stake in film studio
Miramax from
beIN Media Group for $379 million. As part of the purchase,
Paramount Pictures reached a long-term deal for exclusive distribution rights to its library, and
first-look agreements to co-develop new film and television projects based on Miramax-owned properties.[49]
On March 2, 2020, executive vice president Dana McClintock announced that he would depart the company after 27 years in CBS Communications.[50] On March 4, the company announced plans to potentially sell its
Simon & Schuster publishing unit, with Bakish arguing that it lacked a "significant connection for our broader business."[51]
On June 19, 2020, Jaime Ondarza, formerly the senior vice president of
Turner Broadcasting South Europe and Africa, became the new head of ViacomCBS Networks International for France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Middle East, Greece, and Turkey.[52]
On August 4, 2020, ViacomCBS announced that the company's connected video advertising platform, EyeQ, is set to launch in fall 2020.[53]
On November 17, 2020, various news outlets reported that companies such as
Vivendi,
Bertelsmann's
Penguin Random House and
News Corp's
HarperCollins had considered acquiring
Simon & Schuster for as much as $1.7 billion. ViacomCBS had expected the bids to be placed before November 26.[57] On November 25, 2020, Penguin Random House agreed to purchase Simon & Schuster for $2.175 billion;[58] however, the deal was blocked two years later by U.S. federal judge
Florence Y. Pan.[59] On August 16, 2021, ViacomCBS announced that they had agreed to sell the
CBS Building to the real estate investment and management firm Harbor Group International for $760 million, leasing the space back under a short-term lease.[60] On September 28, 2021, ViacomCBS announced that they had agreed to partner with software and data firm VideoAmp.[61] On October 28, 2021, ViacomCBS announced that they had agreed to acquire a majority stake in the Spanish-language content producer
TeleColombia & Estudios TeleMexico.[62] On November 30, 2021, ViacomCBS announced that they had agreed to sell the
CBS Studio Center to Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management for $1.85 billion.[63]
On January 5, 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that ViacomCBS and
WarnerMedia (whose then-owner
AT&T was selling it to
Discovery to form
Warner Bros. Discovery) were exploring a possible sale of either a majority stake or all of The CW, and that
Nexstar Media Group was considered a leading bidder.[64] Reports indicated that ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia could include a contractual commitment that would require any new owner to buy new programming from those companies, allowing them to reap some continual revenue through the network.[65] Then-network president/CEO
Mark Pedowitz confirmed talks of a potential sale in a memo to CW staffers, but added that "It's too early to speculate what might happen."[66][67]
Rebranding
On February 15, 2022, during a presentation to investors, ViacomCBS announced that it would change its name to Paramount Global beginning the following day; in a memo to staff announcing the change, it was stated that the rebranding was intended to leverage the "iconic global name", and would "reflect who we are, what we aspire to be, and all that we stand for." The company primarily does business as simply "Paramount".[68] In May 2022,
Berkshire Hathaway acquired a 15.4% stake in the company for $2.6 billion.[69][70]
Nexstar announced on August 15 that it would acquire a 75% majority share in The CW; the remaining 25% would be shared equally by Paramount and WBD.[71][72] As the deal did not require any regulatory approvals (unlike the
"Big Four" networks, which includes CBS, The CW does not directly own any of its stations), Nexstar immediately took operational control of the network on the same day. The deal was closed on October 3, with CEO Mark Pedowitz stepping down and Dennis Miller taking Pedowitz's role as president of The CW.[73][74] Paramount's CBS News and Stations unit announced on May 5, 2023, that its eight CW stations would become independent on September 1, per the Nexstar buyout deal.[75] On August 7, Paramount announced that it had agreed to sell Simon & Schuster to private equity firm
KKR for $1.6 billion in cash.[76] The sale was completed on October 30.[77]
Potential sale
On December 20, 2023, it was reported by Axios and The New York Times that
David Zaslav, CEO of frequent business collaborator
Warner Bros. Discovery, had met with
Bob Bakish, and had discussed a possible merger. If the merger completed, this would mean
MTV,
Nickelodeon,
Comedy Central, and
VH1 would reunite with its former owner. Spokespeople for the two companies stated that the talks were preliminary and may not result in a deal,[78][79] while
Fox Business reported via internal sources that Zaslav "is not in deal mode".[80]
On April 18, 2024, it was reported that
Sony is interested in acquiring Paramount Global through a joint buyout with Apollo Global Management.[85] If Sony won the bidding war,
Sony Music would reunite with its former owner,
CBS.
Paramount Digital Studios consists of digital online and video internet properties including
Awesomeness (a media and entertainment company overseen by its co-founder
Brian Robbins, also an executive for both the film studio and TV media networks, as of November 2019).[88]
Paramount Consumer Products and Experiences focuses on the retailing and licensing of merchandising for Paramount-owned brands. It consists of
Paramount Consumer Products (which holds
VidCon, a multi-genre online video conference) and some theme parks.[89]
Other assets owned by Paramount include
Republic Pictures. The company also has a 49% stake in
Miramax an undisclosed stake in
FuboTV, which it acquired in 2020.[90]
^Erik Barnouw (1966). A Tower in Babel: A History of Broadcasting in the United States to 1933. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 261.
ISBN978-0-19-500474-8.
^D. Croteau; W. Hoynes (2006). The Business of Media: Corporate Media and the Public Interest. Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press. pp. 100–101.
^Fabrikant, Geraldine (September 17, 1986).
"Viacom Chief Leads Group's Buyout Bid". The New York Times.
ISSN0362-4331.
Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021. In November 1985, Viacom acquired MTV for $326 million in cash and warrants. One-third of MTV was publicly owned; the rest was owned by Warner Communications and the American Express Company. At the same time, Viacom bought 50 percent of Showtime, the pay television service, that it did not already own for $184 million.