Paramount Global

Paramount Global, also known by its trade name as simply Paramount and formerly ViacomCBS, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan that was in operation from December 4, 2019 to August 7, 2025.

Established through the merger of the second incarnations of Viacom and CBS Corporation, which were split from the original Viacom on December 31, 2005, it took its latest name on February 16, 2022. Paramount's main properties include the namesake Paramount Pictures Corporation, the CBS Entertainment Group (consisting of the CBS television network and television stations as well as The CW and other CBS-branded assets), the BET Media Group (which oversees BET and its sister channels), Paramount Media Networks (consisting of locally-based cable television networks including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, CMT, Paramount Network and Showtime) and Paramount Streaming (including Paramount+ and Pluto TV). It also has an international division that manages international versions of its cable networks, as well as region-specific assets including Argentina's Telefe, Chile's Chilevisión, the United Kingdom's 5 and Australia's Network 10. From 2011 to 2023, the division also owned a 30% stake in Rainbow S.p.A. of Italy. As of 2019,^[update] the company operates over 170 networks and reaches approximately 700 million subscribers in 180 countries.

In 2024, National Amusements held talks for a potential merger or acquisition of Paramount Global, with Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures, Apollo Global Management, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Allen Media Group, and Skydance Media all considering acquiring the company. By June 3, Paramount reportedly agreed to merger terms with Skydance. However, by June 11, merger talks between Paramount and Skydance had fallen apart, resulting in the proposed merger being called off. The companies would later re-negotiate the deal, and on July 2, 2024, Skydance reached a preliminary agreement to form "Paramount Skydance Corporation" through a three-way merger between it, National Amusements and Paramount. On July 24, 2025 the merger was approved, over a year after a merger agreement. The merger was closed by August 7, 2025.

Paramount Pictures, CBS and Viacom each had a history of being associated with one another through a series of various corporate mergers and splits. Paramount Pictures was founded in 1912 as the Famous Players Film Company. CBS was founded in 1927, which Paramount Pictures held a 49% ownership stake in from 1929 to 1932. 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). In 1986, Viacom purchased MTV Networks and Showtime/The Movie Channel Inc. from Warner Communications and American Express. In 1987, Viacom was acquired by theater operator company National Amusements.

Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures was acquired by Gulf and Western Industries in 1966, which then re-branded itself as Paramount Communications in 1989. Viacom then purchased Paramount Communications in 1994. 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: the second incarnation of CBS Corporation, the former's corporate successor, and the second incarnation of Viacom, which was formed as a spin-off.

On September 29, 2016, National Amusements wrote to their in-control subsidiaries, Viacom and CBS Corporation, encouraging a merger. On December 12, the deal was called off.

On January 12, 2018, CNBC reported that Viacom had re-entered talks to merge back into CBS Corporation, after the merger of AT&T and Time Warner and Disney's then-proposed acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox's assets were announced. Viacom and CBS Corporation also faced heavy competition from companies such as Netflix and Amazon. Shortly afterward, it was reported that the combined company could be a suitor for acquiring the media company Lionsgate (now Starz Entertainment) . Viacom and Lionsgate were both interested in acquiring The Weinstein Company (TWC). Following the Weinstein effect, Viacom was listed as one of 22 potential buyers that were interested in acquiring TWC. 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. Lantern Capital would later acquire the studio.