Paramount to merge with Skydance
Early this week, another major media merger was announced: Paramount Global (the parent company of Paramount studios, CBS, Nickelodeon, and MTV) and production company Skydance have agreed to a merger. Specifically, Shari Redstone, the head of National Amusements (the owner of Paramount Global), will sell her controlling interest in National Amusements (and thus also Paramount) to Skydance. For now, the newly merged company is dubbed “New Paramount,” with the deal set to be finalized by sometime in 2025.
This news came after months of speculation over who would buy Paramount. Other prospective buyers have ranged from Byron Allen (the producer of syndicated programming and the owner of the Weather Channel) to Sony (partnered with private equity firm Apollo) to Warner Bros. Discovery.
My thoughts
Media mergers are usually questionable; if anything, major media conglomerates like Comcast and Disney should be broken up. That said, the Skydance/Paramount merger is probably the least worst option compared to the other possible buyers. The other options are either long shots (Byron Allen) or clearly plan to strip Paramount for parts (see: private equity firms like Apollo, David Zaslav’s slash-and-burn management of Warner Bros. Discovery, etc.). That said, there’s still plans to sell some assets (like BET); also, the usual downsizing, like in all other media mergers, is definitely in store. Also, as I’ve noted before, Paramount’s large, but not as big as Disney or Warner Bros., and thus fewer big franchises. There’s a reason Paramount (and its streaming service Paramount+) emphasizes “Star Trek,” SpongeBob/Nickelodeon, CBS, and Tom Cruise films.
Skydance also resembles the previous Viacom/CBS/Paramount split-ups and re-mergers over the past few decades. Instead of a complete stranger involved (like Disney buying 20th Century Fox), the merger involves a company that was already working alongside Paramount. Skydance is the producer of Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” and the various “Mission: Impossible” films, the latter one of Paramount’s major franchises.
One thing I’ve noticed: the new figures involved in running the House of SpongeBob, “Star Trek” and the Tom Cruise movie-du-jour. The CEO of Skydance is David Ellison, the son of wealthy Oracle founder Larry Ellison. The new president of Paramount will be Jeff Shell, who was previously the head of NBCUniversal, until he was fired last year over sexual harassment issues. Finally, Skydance’s animation department is headed by John Lasseter, the former Disney/Pixar animation head who left the Mouse House in 2019 over sexual harassment accusations. I note CBS has already dealt with a high profile harassment case involving Les Moonves only six years ago. So make of all this what you will?
As for the long-term future of “New Paramount,” I’m not sure. I do expect some changes; it’s the first time since the 1980s that the Redstone family won’t be controlling any aspect of Paramount.
What do you think of this merger?