Paramount Skydance

• 1. Introduction

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  Paramount Skydance Corporation, which does business simply as Paramount, was formed on the 7th of August 2025. David Ellison created it by merging three entities: Paramount Global, National Amusements, and Skydance Media. Its shares trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker PSKY. The company's primary headquarters is the Paramount Pictures lot in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Its news network, CBS, works out of two buildings in Midtown Manhattan, and a third major base sits in Santa Monica, California. Several questions hang over this American media conglomerate. How did a movie studio and a television network with such tangled histories end up under one roof? What did regulators want before they would approve the union? Why did the new owner begin cutting jobs almost at once? And what happened when the company went after one of Hollywood's other great film libraries?

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• 2. A Family That Kept Splitting

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  Paramount Pictures was founded in 1912 as the Famous Players Film Company. CBS followed in 1927, and from 1929 to 1932 the studio held a 49% stake in the network. In 1952, CBS created a division to sell syndication rights to its network-owned television series. That division went through several names, including CBS Films in 1958 and CBS Enterprises Inc. on the 1st of December 1967. In 1970 it became Viacom, short for Video and Audio Communications. In 1971 it was spun off because new FCC rules barred networks from owning syndication companies. Those rules were abolished completely in 1993. Meanwhile, Gulf and Western Industries bought Paramount Pictures in 1966 and renamed itself Paramount Communications in 1989.

  In 1986, Viacom bought MTV Networks and Showtime/The Movie Channel Inc. from Warner Communications and American Express. In 1987, the theater operator National Amusements acquired a majority stake in Viacom. In February 1994, Viacom bought 50.1% of Paramount Communications for $9.75 billion, after a five-month fight with the shopping channel QVC. The deal was completed in July. In 1999, Viacom announced a merger with CBS Corporation, its former parent, which was the renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The union was completed in 2000. On the 31st of December 2005, Viacom split in two: a second CBS Corporation and a second Viacom.

  David Ellison founded Skydance Media in 2006. By 2009, it had signed a five-year co-financing, production and distribution agreement with Paramount Pictures. That deal was extended in 2013 and again in 2017, so the two companies were already working together long before any merger talk.

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• 3. The Long Road To Closing

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  In 2023, Paramount's parent company, National Amusements, was struggling with debt and with the pressure to stay competitive. It began exploring mergers and sales for Paramount Global. Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. Discovery, Apollo Global Management, Warner Music Group, Allen Media Group and Skydance Media all signaled interest. Paramount first reached a deal with Skydance, but on the 11th of June the two sides canceled it after unsatisfactory conversations. After a pause, Skydance reached a preliminary agreement on the 2nd of July 2024. It called for a three-way merger among Skydance, National Amusements and Paramount, creating what was then called "New Paramount". Once it closed, Ellison would be chairman and CEO, and Jeff Shell would be president.

  The closing kept slipping. Paramount said in February and again in May 2025 that it expected to finish in the first half of the year, and it did not. An automatic extension to the 7th of July 2025 began on the 8th of April. A second extension, to the 4th of October 2025, began on the 7th of July. The SEC and the European Commission had approved the transaction in February 2025. The FCC approved it on the 24th of July 2025, and the company was formed well before the second extension ran out.

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• 4. The Price Of Approval

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  Paramount paid $16 million in July 2025 to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against CBS. Trump had alleged that CBS News's reporting amounted to election interference, and lawyers widely described the suit as baseless. The merger's review by U.S. regulators was shadowed by the fact that Trump had begun a second term as president. The FCC was headed by Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, and the settlement was meant to ensure the agency would not block the deal.

  The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was not renewed. Colbert had referred to the settlement on air as a "big fat bribe". After the merger closed, Ellison made changes at CBS News that were friendly to conservatives. On the 6th of October 2025, Paramount Skydance named Bari Weiss editor-in-chief of CBS News, the first person to hold that title there. The company had just acquired her outlet, The Free Press, in a deal valued at $150 million. Trump praised both the Weiss hiring and the cancellation of The Late Show. John Dickerson announced on the 27th of October that he would leave CBS News after more than 16 years.

  On the 14th of November 2025, Representatives Jamie Raskin and Frank Pallone, the top two Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Paramount had not fully cooperated with their investigation of the settlement. In August they had requested documents, including communications with the Trump administration and the FCC. In February 2026, the company hired Rene Augustine, a former Trump administration attorney, as senior vice president of global public policy, while a far larger takeover fight was underway.

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• 5. Rebuilding The Company

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  On the 4th of August 2025, Paramount Skydance introduced the executives who would run its new structure alongside Ellison and Shell. Andy Gordon became chief operating officer and strategy officer. Cindy Holland took charge of Paramount+ and Pluto TV. Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein would co-lead Paramount Pictures, while George Cheeks, a Paramount Global veteran, would lead the television networks. The company was organized into three units: studios, direct-to-consumer, and television media. Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Skydance Television were merged into a revived Paramount Television Studios under Matt Thunell. In October, Nickelodeon's live-action studio and Awesomeness's production studio were folded into it. The Victorious spin-off Hollywood Arts, originally ordered at Nickelodeon, moved to Netflix as the revived studio's first Nickelodeon-branded series.

  The next day, the company announced layoffs of around 1,000 employees and a $2 billion cut in operating costs. Shell explained the approach this way: "We do not want to be a company that has layoffs every quarter." On the 29th of October, a second round was announced, with about 2,000 layoffs planned. Ellison said some areas were addressing redundancies and others were phasing out roles no longer aligned with new priorities. The cuts reached anchors and a producer on CBS Saturday Morning, along with executives across film and television.

  On the 8th of August, Paramount announced it would be based at the Paramount Pictures lot, leaving One Astor Plaza in New York for the first time since the first Viacom moved there in 1994. On the 4th of September, it ordered all employees back to the office five days a week. On the 10th of November, the Los Angeles Times reported 1,600 layoffs in South America, tied to a 15% workforce reduction and savings valued at $3 billion. The next day, 600 employees took severance rather than return to the office. The company also sold the Argentine network Telefe on the 23rd of October and announced the sale of Chilevisión on the 14th of November.

  On the 31st of December 2025, Paramount shut down its MTV music channels outside the United States, ending 38 years of music broadcasting there. In Brazil, the closures ended the MTV brand on television. It had launched there as a broadcast network in 1990 and returned on cable in 2013.

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• 6. Deals And Franchises

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  On the 11th of August 2025, Paramount announced a seven-year deal with TKO Group Holdings to distribute the Ultimate Fighting Championship exclusively in the United States. Paramount+ would stream the UFC's 13 marquee numbered events and 30 "Fight Nights" each year. Select numbered events would also air on CBS starting in 2026. Two days later, Paramount named Top Gun 3 and Star Trek as priorities and set a goal of releasing twenty films per year. Holland described the aim for Paramount+ as becoming "a daily habit for all audiences". Ellison said streaming films would not be a priority. South Park also renewed its standing with Paramount in a deal worth $1.5 billion.

  On the 19th of August, the company announced a four-year deal with Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of Stranger Things. It covers movies, television and streaming projects at Paramount+ and begins when their Netflix deal ends in April 2026. On the 2nd of September, Paramount Pictures signed a deal with Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard for a live-action film based on Call of Duty. Ellison, a long-time fan of the series, called it a "dream come true". The next day, Paramount signed a first-look, multi-picture deal with Will Smith and his company Westbrook, covering films such as Sugar Bandits and Rabbit Hole.

  On the 4th of September, Paramount and Legendary Entertainment announced a three-year worldwide distribution deal, excluding China. The first film under it will be a live-action adaptation of the Street Fighter video game series. Warner Bros. Pictures will keep distributing select Legendary franchises, including Dune: Part Three and Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. On the 12th of September, the company launched Paramount Sports Entertainment under Jesse Sisgold, who also chairs Skydance Sports. Holland had named the Taylor Sheridan universe as the foundation of Paramount+. On the 27th of October, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Sheridan was leaving for NBCUniversal, because Paramount had not made him an offer to stay.

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• 7. The Warner Bros. Gambit

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  In September 2025, The Wall Street Journal and others reported that Paramount Skydance was weighing a takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Because WBD holds no broadcast licenses, the deal was expected to avoid FCC review. Senator Elizabeth Warren urged regulators to stop it. Early talk of the price reached about $70 billion, then fell to the mid-$50 billions. By the 19th of September, reports centered on scenarios north of $45 billion, with a potential offer of $22-24 per share that could be 70-80% cash and was backed by Larry Ellison. UTA chief David Kramer called the idea a mixed prospect for Hollywood, while FX Networks chairman John Landgraf said large-scale consolidation among legacy studios was essentially unavoidable.

  The libraries explained the appeal. Paramount Skydance holds roughly 4,500 films and 200,000 episodes. Warner Bros. has about 10,000 films and 120,000 episodes. Bernstein Research estimated that roughly 70% of the combined company's earnings would still come from linear networks. On the 13th of October, Warner Bros. Discovery rejected a first bid. Reports said it later rejected a $24-a-share offer privately. On the 28th of October, Ellison said he planned to shut down HBO Max as a standalone streaming service and merge it with Paramount+ if the deal went through.

  On the 4th of December, Paramount accused Warner Bros. Discovery of running an unfair bidding process that favored Netflix. Netflix won the bidding that day, and on the 5th of December announced a $72 billion purchase of the Warner Bros. studio and streaming business, valuing WBD at $82.7 billion. Three days later, Paramount launched a hostile bid at $30 per share in cash, an enterprise value of $108.4 billion, against Netflix's $27.75. On the 17th of December, WBD told shareholders to reject it. On the 7th of January 2026, the board called the offer "inadequate" and of "insufficient value". Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said the bid "doesn't pass the sniff test". By the 23rd of January, about 7% of WBD's 2.5 billion shares had been tendered, and the offer was set to expire on the 20th of February.

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• 8. Winning Warner

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  On the 5th of February 2026, Ellison published an open letter to the UK creative community. He pledged a minimum 45-day theatrical window, more than 30 cinema releases a year, and HBO's survival as an independent brand. He warned that Netflix's competing bid could create a "monopolistic or dominant entity". Five days later, Paramount sweetened its bid without raising the $30 price. It offered a 25-cent-per-share quarterly "ticking fee", about $650 million a quarter, beginning in 2027 until closing. It also agreed to cover the $2.8 billion termination fee WBD would owe Netflix. The same day, the activist investor Ancora Holdings disclosed a stake of roughly $200 million. It said it would oppose the Netflix deal.

  On the 26th of February, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it found Paramount's $31-per-share offer superior to the Netflix deal. Netflix declined to raise its bid and pulled out. The next day, the studios put the value at $110 billion. David Zaslav said closing was expected within 6-12 months. If completed, it would be the largest all-cash transaction in corporate history, ahead of Microsoft's $67 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard in 2023.

  On the 8th of April, Jeff Shell left as president, a month after Robert James Cipriani filed a $150 million lawsuit against Shell and his wife. It also named David Ellison, his father Larry, and several advisors. Shell denied the allegations, calling them an "utterly false tale created in a shakedown attempt". His severance was $5 million. Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approved the sale on the 23rd of April. On the 7th of May, Paramount Pictures signed a multi-year, first-look deal with Warner Music Group for films based on its artists' lives and music. On the 13th of May, the company opened its upfront presentation by confirming that regulators and both sets of shareholders had approved the deal. The presentation included a tribute to Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, delivered by Anderson Cooper.

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