# Paramount Global The corporate parent of Paramount Pictures and CBS from 2019 to 2025, now defunct. [[Viacom]] and CBS, split apart by [[Sumner Redstone]] in 2005, re-merged as ViacomCBS on December 4, 2019, and the company was renamed Paramount Global on February 16, 2022. [[Shari Redstone]] controlled it through [[National Amusements]]. It owned Paramount Pictures, CBS and [[CBS News]], MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central, Showtime and Paramount+. It sold Simon & Schuster to KKR in 2023. ## The streaming bet and the sale The 2022 rebrand bet the company on Paramount+, and the streaming losses depressed the stock. In April 2024 CEO Bob Bakish was pushed out and replaced by a three-executive "office of the CEO," and Redstone put National Amusements' controlling stake up for sale. The winner was [[David Ellison]]'s [[Skydance Media]], with a deal agreed in July 2024. ## How the deal cleared The approval sequence is the reason this page is in the vault. 1. **The settlement.** In July 2025, with the merger awaiting [[FCC]] approval, Paramount paid **$16 million** to settle [[Donald Trump]]'s lawsuit over a [[60 Minutes]] interview with [[Kamala Harris]]. The suit was widely regarded as weak on the merits. 2. **The approval.** On July 24, 2025 the FCC approved the $8 billion deal **2–1**. Skydance had committed to install a CBS News ombudsman to hear complaints of bias and to end its DEI programs. Commissioner [[Anna Gomez]] dissented, calling it "cowardly capitulation" and warning of "never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment." 3. **The close.** The merger closed on **August 7, 2025**, and Paramount Global ceased to exist. The successor is **[[Skydance-Paramount]]** (Paramount Skydance Corp.), with Ellison as chairman and CEO. CBS had already announced the end of *The Late Show with [[Stephen Colbert]]* that July, citing finances. Critics read the timing differently. ## After Paramount Global What followed happened under the successor and is tracked there: [[Bari Weiss]] at CBS News, and the acquisition of [[Warner Bros. Discovery]]. See [[Skydance-Paramount]], [[Paramount Timeline]] and [[CBS Timeline]]. ## Related - [[Skydance-Paramount]] · [[David Ellison]] · [[Shari Redstone]] · [[National Amusements]] - [[CBS News]] · [[60 Minutes]] · [[Anna Gomez]] - [[Paramount Timeline]] · [[CBS Timeline]] · [[Media Capture]]