News

The Paramount co-ceo threesome of Chris McCarthy, George Cheeks and Brian Robbins is apt to look quite different once the Skydance-Paramount merger goes through in late March-early April, according to sources and not surprisingly. However, we hear that no decisions have been made on the comings and goings of McCarthy, Cheeks and Robbins.

A Bloomberg article Tuesday reported that of the three, only Cheeks is bound to survive once incoming CEO and Paramount buyer David Ellison arrives. This in addition to further consolidation of the conglom’s TV assets.

Those familiar with the Skydance-Paramount merger tell us that Ellison has yet to have talks with McCarthy and Robbins about their futures under the new merger.

Chatter indicates that Cheeks looked well positioned to stay on as he oversees CBS, the division that has the least overlap with Skydance and one that has been doing well. The broadcast network added new hits this year including Tracker,...

Ben Affleck has been vocal about his love of Emmy-winning series “Succession,” but now the Oscar-winning writer/director/actor is revealing his own take on how the show could have ended.

Affleck said during CNBC’s Delivering Alpha 2024 alongside RedBird Capital Partners founder Gerry Cardinale that AI does have some benefit, including making storytelling more accessible to fans. Affleck used the series finale of the hit HBO show as an example.

“AI will allow you to ask for your own episode of ‘Succession’ where you could say, ‘I’ll pay you $30 and can you make me a 45-minute episode where like Kendall gets the company and runs off and has an affair with Stewy?’ and it’ll do it,” Affleck said. “And it will be a little janky and a little weird but it will know the sass and those actors and it will remix it in effect. That’s the value long-term.

Ben Affleck has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind, and while on a panel at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha Summit on Wednesday, he weighed in on a number of topics being closely watched by Hollywood, including the looming deal for Skydance to buy Paramount and the growing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) by the industry.

Affleck, of course, is the co-founder and CEO of Artists Equity, the production venture he created with Matt Damon and RedBird’s Gerry Cardinale. The latter, who sat next to Affleck on the CNBC panel, is also backing David Ellison’s bid for Paramount.

Cardinale revealed finances for Artists Equity for the first time, telling David Faber that “we’ve presold north of $700 million in revenues in seven projects. We’re meaningfully cash flow positive. We have built a company in two years.”

But Affleck lamented that the job of...

Exclusive: We’ve seen efforts to share risk and upside in success, and many times they come and go. Artists Equity, hatched by pals Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and backed by a long-term financial commitment from RedBird Capital billionaire Gerry Cardinale, has a real chance to reshape the tenuous pay landscape in a talent-friendly way. Since Deadline first broke their plans, Affleck and Damon have used their personal relationships and the hard-knock lessons from over 30 years of their Oscar careers to create a sound equity participation formula for those involved in their projects. It’s a formula they believe provides more transparency in profit sharing than is available from the studios and streamers that will release the films Artists Equity bankrolls.

Housed in Los Angeles offices with a staff that has swelled past 70 employees working on film, TV, a full-scale ad agency and a lean-in on documentaries, Artists Equity is growing quickly.

Skydance Media CEO David Ellison will control 100% of the Ellison family’s voting interests in Paramount Global when the two companies’ $8 billion merger closes in the first half of 2025, according to an amended filing with the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.

The filing, which is required due to the sale involving the transfer of broadcast licenses related to the CBS Television Network and local TV stations, states that David will be new Paramount’s chairman and CEO and the “sole manager” of Hikouki LLC, Furaito LLC, and Aozora LLC — the entities through which the Ellison family will own and control National Amusements Inc. and the media giant following the transaction’s closing.

The amendment comes after it was initially revealed that David’s father and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison would own 77.5% of National Amusements through a trust and series of corporations, with the remaining 22.5% of Nai owned by RedBird Capital Partners...

Larry Ellison won’t control Paramount after all.

A month after Skydance told the Federal Communications Commission that the Oracle founder and tech mogul would have voting control of Paramount when the company closes its $8 billion deal, it has filed revised applications with the FCC to clarify that, in fact, David Ellison will have control.

In order for the deal to close, Skydance needs approval not only from antitrust regulators at the FTC or DOJ, but also the FCC, which needs to approve the transfer of broadcast licenses owned by Paramount.

In its initial filing, Skydance said that Larry Ellison (who is contributing the bulk of the cash in the deal) alongside Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital would control the new company through various corporate entities. In the new filing Tuesday, the company clarified that David Ellison will have voting control over the companies that own the new Paramount, even...

Skydance Media submitted an updated filing with the FCC to reflect that David Ellison, CEO of Skydance, will hold 100% percent of the Ellison family’s voting interests in the newly combined Skydance-Paramount.

According to the amended FCC filing Tuesday, David Ellison’s role will be chairman and CEO of New Paramount, combining the assets of Skydance and Paramount Global after the deal closes, expected in the first half of 2025. He also is designated as “sole manager” of the Ellison family entities — Hikouki LLC, Furaito LLC, and Aozora LLC — through which the Ellison family will own and control National Amusements Inc. (currently the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global) and New Paramount.

Previously, Skydance documentation filed with the FCC said Larry Ellison, the multibillionaire founder of Oracle and David Ellison’s father, would be the majority shareholder of Nai and control the newly merged Paramount-Skydance.

Pinnacle Media Ventures, formed as special...

In one of the most anticipated keynotes held at the 40th edition of Mipcom in Cannes, All3Media CEO Jane Turton discussed what drove Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Imi in its $1.45 billion purchase of the TV production powerhouse behind “The Traitors.”

“I think it’s definitely the IP. People want to see growth,” Turton said at a fireside conversation with Variety’s co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton at Mipcom in Cannes on Oct. 21. “They want to see something that’s been consistently growing, that the management team understands margins and all of those things. And then I think the range, the scale, the portfolio, that breadth, it was appealing.”

Turton suggested RedBird Imi also saw an “opportunity for growth” with All3Media. “Because if you think about it, you don’t buy something to watch it plateau or worse…”

The executive, who became CEO of All3Media in 2015 and grew...

Non-scripted giant All3Media, producer of such global reality hits as Emmy-winning phenomenon The Traitors and Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge, is looking to add more drama to its portfolio.

In a keynote on Monday at the international television market MIPCOM, All3Media CEO Jane Turton said the group, which was recently acquired in a $1.45 billion sale to Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Imi, is eying scripted production companies as it moves to expand.

“We’ve found that there are places where we want to get stronger, gaps in our portfolio,” said Turton. “We’ve added in scripted considerably and we’re continuing to do that. Actually, the announcements we’ll be making over the next few months/years, may well include quite a few scripted, units and labels.”

All3Media is not a complete stranger to scripted, with production credits, through its subsidiaries, which include Phoebe Waller Bridge...

All3Media is gearing up to splash out in the scripted market now that the £1.15B ($1.5B) RedBird Imi acquisition is complete.

CEO Jane Turton said at MIPCOM that the Fleabag and The Tourists super-indie will likely unveil new label acquisitions or launches over the “next few months or years,” and that these will be in the scripted space.

All3, which has around 40 labels, has been quiet in the acquisitions market of late following a lengthy sales process that ended with Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale’s company RedBird Imi splashing out on the firm.

Turton pointed to the new All3Media-backed label formed by Lupin scribe George Kay as a textbook example of what could be to come.

“There’s not a thinning of the herd [in terms of buyers of content] and the herd feels just as numerous as they always did, and it is very competitive,” said Turton. “So you try to do deals,...

The $1.45 billion sale of production powerhouse All3Media to Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Imi, which closed in May 2024, was by far the biggest professional challenge Jane Turton faced this year.

The CEO of All3Media — the global production giant that produces more than 4,000 hours of content annually, including such hits as Emmy-winning reality TV phenomenon The Traitors, and Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge — got the biggest, most completed deal in the company’s history over the line. All3Media is now part of the RedBird Imi’s growing empire, which includes unscripted production company EverWonder Studios, children’s entertainment group Hidden Pigeon Company, the digital news outlet Front Office Sports, and a stake in Media Res, the studio behind the Apple TV+ shows The Morning Show and Pachinko.

Turton’s number-crunching skills have proved an invaluable asset for All3Media, especially in the company’s push for...

Paramount Global is considering potentially dropping its partnership with Nielsen as the two parties continue talks about renewing their current contract ahead of a deadline this coming Monday.

“Disengaging from Nielsen is not our first choice, and we remain hopeful for a resolution,” Paramount advertising president John Halley wrote in a letter to media agencies, according to Variety. “We are asking for your partnership as we navigate this situation.”

Halley argued that Nielsen is “insisting on substantial price increases across all their products, including linear measurement, despite the changing economic landscape of our industry” and that the costs as a percentage of Paramount’s ad revenue have “quintupled.”

“In certain instances, Nielsen’s fees already exceed the total advertising revenue of the network being measured,” Halley added. “This has led us to conclude that the model, as proposed, is not workable, and that the cost structure requires re-engineering.”

The outlet...

Paramount+’s communication team has been hit by Paramount Global’s latest round of layoffs as part of its 15% reduction of its U.S. workforce. Senior vice presidents Morgan Seal and Amanda Cary are among those impacted, TheWrap has learned.

During Seal’s 13-year tenure, she helped lead publicity for the streamer’s Taylor Sheridan and Star Trek universe shows. She joined CBS Interactive’s comms team in 2011 before transitioning to the Paramount+ team in 2019.

Cary joined Showtime in 2013 and was promoted to SVP in 2022. There, she worked on publicity for series such as “Dexter” and “Yellowjackets,” before moving to Paramount+ last year. Prior to working with Showtime, she spent five years at USA Network, helping to launch series that included blue-sky classics “Suits” and “Covert Affairs.”

The latest cuts come after Paramount Streaming, Showtime and cross-company publicity executive vice president Erin Calhoun, whom both Seal and Cary reported to,...

Reality TV producer Efran Films has rebranded as Bright North Studios after Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Imi closed an acquisition of the Toronto-based production banner.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition follows RedBird Imi paying $1.45 billion to acquire the British TV and film production powerhouse All3Media from Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global. Adding to its global production business, RedBird Imi has named co-founder Morgan Hertzan as CEO of Bright North Studios USA, while Shawn Efran continues as CEO of Bright North Studios Inc.

Canadian regulators approved the takeover deal. In an earlier move, RedBird Imi acquired a stake in Media Res, the studio behind the Apple TV+ shows The Morning Show and Pachinko, founded by former HBO executive Michael Ellenberg.

The renamed Bright North Studios has produced reality TV series like FBI True (CBS), Never Seen Again (Paramount+), 100 Days to Indy...

Paramount Streaming, Showtime and cross-company publicity executive vice president Erin Calhoun is exiting the media giant at the end of the month after seven years with the company.

During her tenure, Calhoun oversaw communications teams across Paramount+, Pluto TV and Showtime, as well as campaigns for originals like “Fellow Travelers,” “The Curse,” “Frasier,” “Knuckles” and “Special Ops: Lioness.” She also helped elevate Showtime series such as “Shameless,” “Billions,” “Yellowjackets “and “Dexter: New Blood.”

Additionally, Calhoun led media relations for product and brand priorities, such as Pluto TV’s 10th anniversary — executing more than 250 industry events and spearheading nearly 100 awards nominations each year — and managed corporate communications efforts for this year’s Super Bowl.

“It has been a privilege to be a part of this organization and I am filled with gratitude for the experiences and opportunities I have been fortunate to have, but most of all the friendships I have made along the way,...

Paramount Advertising has become the latest victim of the media giant’s cuts towards 15% of its U.S. workforce designed to help generate annual run rate cost savings of $500 million across the company.

The team is in charge of managing domestic multi-platform ad sales across CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount+, Pluto TV and other properties. It is unclear how many employees from the division have been impacted.

“Today is going to be a difficult day as this process will affect our org and we will be parting ways with talented and valued teammates and friends,” Paramount Advertising president John Halley said in a Tuesday memo to staff. “I want to acknowledge how unsettling this may feel, as this is not the first time our org has shouldered impacts. None of this is easy and no decision was made lightly.”

The layoffs, which are part of co-ceo Chris McCarthy,...

Paramount’s George Cheeks and NBC’s Jon Miller aren’t having sleepless nights over Venu Sports.

The pair addressed the topic of the Disney-, Fox- and Warner Bros. Discovery-backed sports streamer, whose launch has been delayed by a legal challenge, at the Img-RedBird Summit in the UK yesterday, detailing how their companies had reacted to being excluded from the project.

NBC Sports President of Acquisition & Partnerships Miller in particular didn’t pull any punches over not being part of the club, questioning how it would attract subscribers when several key sporting events would not be offered.

“I think of it both as a broadcaster and a programmer, but also as a sports fan,” he said. “Why would you ever invest in a property that loses basically 45% of the NFL, has none of the golf major championships, loses half of motorsports in NASCAR, loses March Madness every other year...

Endeavor Group Holdings and Tko Group CEO Ari Emanuel predicted Wednesday there will be just five or six major streamers or content providers left when the media industry consolidation dust settles.

“I think you’re in a situation where you have Paramount, Warner, Disney, Comcast; there’s other players. I think there will probably be five or six remaining streamer or content providers. Netflix, Amazon, we’re all going to see what happens with Apple, YouTube,” Emanuel said during the Img x RedBird Summit. “Then we probably have two remaining over the next five years from that group, and for some people that supply them — whether they be actors, writers, directors, non-scripted or sports. That’s a very good, healthy ecosystem with people that will have very big and deep pockets. That will take approximately two to three years to play out.”

Emanuel’s comments, which came during a panel...

Ari Emanuel has given Kamala Harris top marks for her performance at last night’s Presidential debate, but says the election’s outcome is still “50-50.”

“She did what she had to do — she had to act like a commander in chief,” said the CEO of Endeavor of the Democrat hopeful. “The hardest thing is to get up on that stage, one as a woman, and pass the test ‘can you be commander-in-chief?’ And she did. All the other noise is the noise and she passed that.

“I still think it’s probably 50-50. With 52 days left, I think you’ll see some movement one way or the other and it is toss-up, but she did pass the most important test.” Speaking at the Img x RedBird Summit at Soho Farmhouse in the UK today, Emanuel joked his brother, prominent Democratic Rahm Emanuel, had handed him the verdict.

Deadline‘s...

A new filing with the Federal Communications Commission outlines a plan to “strengthen and revitalize” the CBS broadcast network and its owned and operated stations, should Oracle founder Larry Ellison be allowed to assume control of the broadcast licenses.

Ellison, the father of Skydance founder and CEO David Ellison (who would be the future CEO of Paramount should the merger go through), would control the new company through a handful of corporate entities, alongside Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital. Companies controlled by Larry Ellison are contributing the bulk of the cash required to get the deal done, hence the voting control.

But first it has to receive approval from the government, and in addition to an antitrust review by the Federal Trade Commission or Department of Justice, that means approval by the FCC to transfer the CBS broadcast licenses. That requirement led to the filing, which outlines the deal, and the players involved.

Larry Ellison, the megabillionaire founder of Oracle, will be the majority shareholder of National Amusements Inc., the company that controls Paramount Global, after the expected closing of the deal with Skydance Media — led by his son, David Ellison — next year, according to a regulatory filing.

It was understood that Larry Ellison would obtain a majority stake in Nai but now there’s official confirmation: He will own 77.5% of National Amusements through Pinnacle Media, a group of three ventures formed “as special-purpose vehicles to hold the Ellison family’s interest in Nai and Paramount,” according to an FCC filing, available at this link. The remaining 22.5% of Nai will be owned by Gerry Cardinale, head of private-equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, which teamed with Skydance and the Ellisons on the Nai/Paramount deal.

The filing also reveals that Ellison and RedBird agreed to loan up to $277 million to Nai during the period prior to the deal closing.

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is set to acquire a controlling majority stake in Paramount Global when his son David Ellison and RedBird Capital Partners close an $8 billion deal to acquire the Hollywood studio, according to a new regulatory filing with the Federal Communications Commission.

The filing, which is required due to the sale involving the transfer of broadcast licenses related to the CBS Television Network and local TV stations, notes that the older Ellison will own 77.5% of National Amusements through a trust and series of corporations. The remainder of Nai will be owned by RedBird Capital Partners founder Gerry Cardinale’s Rb Tentpole LP, which will control 22.5% if the deal goes through.

The two-step deal, which will see the younger Ellison’s Skydance Media acquire Paramount controlling shareholder Shari Redstone’s National Amusements before merging with the media giant, is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to...

In the latest turn in the Paramount Global sale process, Edgar Bronfman Jr. has withdrawn his bid to buy the film and TV studio.

“Tonight, our bidding group informed the special committee that we will be exiting the go-shop process. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to participate,” Bronfman said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “We continue to believe that Paramount Global is an extraordinary company, with an unrivaled collection of marquee brands, assets and people.”

Bronfman added, “While there may have been differences, we believe that everyone involved in the sale process is united in the belief that Paramount’s best days are ahead. We congratulate the Skydance team and thank the special committee and the Redstone family for their engagement during the go-shop process.”

Bronfman initially submitted a roughly $4.3 billion bid last week, which included $2.4 billion in debt and equity for Shari Redstone’s holding company,...

A last-minute overture for Paramount Global is getting more serious consideration from Shari Redstone and the company’s special committee of the board of directors.

The multibillion-dollar bid from a group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. arrived before the 45-day “go-shop” window for Paramount to evaluate alternate acquisition proposals was set to formally end on Aug. 21. The window has been extended, signaling that bid is being taken seriously as Redstone evaluates whether to go with an offer led by the heir to the Seagram family liquor fortune, Bronfman, or the heir to the Oracle software family fortune, David Ellison.

Paramount’s special committee, which was organized to evaluate deal proposals, confirmed on Wednesday that “the receipt of an acquisition proposal from Edgar Bronfman, Jr., on behalf of a consortium of investors” qualified for consideration enough to extend the “go-shop” window until Sept. 5. The committee noted that during the window it...

Paramount is taking more time before an official handshake with Skydance, using an extra 15 days allotted in their merger contract to explore another bid – a surprise, last-minute offer from Edgar Bronfman Jr., one that the heir to the Seagram liquor fortune has just sweetened.

The special committee of Paramount’s board, which has been overseeing the sale process, acknowledged in a statement that it has Bronfman’s proposal in hand, and extended the go-shop period — for Bronfman only — through Sept. 5. It will expire at 11:59 pm Et tonight for any other potential bidders.

“There can be no assurance this process will result in a Superior Proposal. The Company does not intend to disclose further developments unless and until it determines such disclosure is appropriate or is otherwise required,” the committee said.

The committee had apparently tried to drum up a bit more interest, saying that during the go-shop period, “representatives...

Paramount Global mogul Shari Redstone, who deliberated for months about whether and how to relinquish control of her family’s film and TV empire, now formally has a new offer to consider.

A consortium led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. — heir to his family’s Seagram’s liquor fortune and an executive who formerly ran Universal Studios when his father owned its parent company — unveiled a competing bid for Paramount and Redstone’s holding vehicle, National Amusements.

Bronfman submitted a roughly $4.3 billion bid to acquire National Amusements, The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 19. His offer includes $2.4 billion in debt and equity for National Amusements, and Bronfman also would contribute $1.5 billion to Paramount’s balance sheet, which could be used to pay down debt, according to the paper, which cites multiple sources. Bronfman’s bid also adds the $400 million breakup fee if National Amusements was to go with a rival deal.

Paramount...

Deadline hears that Edgar Bronfman, Jr. has made an offer for Paramount Global in a deal worth $4.3 billion, attempting to undo Par’s merger with Skydance.

The offer is said to consist of a $2.4 billion payment to Shari Redstone for her family holding National Amusements, which controls Paramount Global through its majority of Class A voting shares. Some $1.5 billion would be injected into the company’s balance sheet to pay down some debt and ensure investment grade. Most of the rest would go towards a $400 million breakup fee to Skydance, Deadline understands.

The offer would not take out other Paramount shareholders, unlike the Skydance deal, which set $4.5 billion to buy out all Class A and a chunk of B shares at a nice premium. That number was sweetened several times over months of negotiations to make the deal more appealing to stockholders, who had threatened to sue. They had been...

As the August 21 deadline looms for other parties to make a run at Paramount (or forever hold their peace), the Wall Street Journal reports that Edgar Bronfman Jr. has not exited the Paramount scene but is in talks with investors and preparing a bid.

The stock, which frequently jumps about on news like this, is up nearly 8%.

Other potential acquirers like Barry Diller’s Iac have dropped by the wayside given the size and complexity of the business combination, which seemed to leave the path clear for Skydance. David Ellison’s company backed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Gerry Cardinale’s Redbird Capital, announced the circa $8 billion, multi-step transaction in July but with a so-called “go-shop” period of 45 days for Par to field other offers. The window is set to close next Wednesday at 11:59 pm Et.

The WSJ says that Bronfman, heir to the Seagram family fortune and...

The Paramount Global-Skydance merger is on track to close in the first half of 2025 and “in the meantime, the Skydance and Redbird teams support our strategic plan and we are continuing to operate business as usual,” said Chris McCarthy — who runs Paramount with Brian Robbins and George Cheeks — on a call after quarterly earnings Thursday.

That includes an anticipated $500 million in cost cuts, a chunk from layoffs of about 15% of Paramount’s staff that started today and will go through the rest of the year, as well as asset sales.

David Ellison’s Skydance, backed by Oracle co-founder (and his father) Larry Ellison, and Gerry Cardinale’s Redbird Capital clinched an agreement with Shari Redstone-controlled Paramount in July. It included a 45-day waiting period for another bidder to appear, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of movement on that front. They’d have until 11:59 p.

Paramount continued to push forward on its $500 million cost-savings plan and goal of reaching sustained profitability in streaming by 2025, in the company’s first earnings report since the Skydance deal was announced.

On Thursday, the company said its cost-savings plan will include reducing its U.S.-based workforce by approximately 15 percent. The areas hit will be redundant functions within marketing and communications and in finance, legal, technology and other support functions. These actions will take place in the coming weeks and will largely be completed by the end of the year, according to management.

Paramount Global had 21,900 employees worldwide as of the end of 2023, but eliminated an estimated 800 positions in February.

The company is also exploring “potential strategic partnerships” for Paramount+ and is in active discussion with “multiple parties” in an effort to reach sustained profitability on the service. Management said this could include licensing as well as joint ventures or partnerships.

Even though Shari Redstone has inked a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance Media to relinquish control of Paramount Global, the company has until Aug. 21 to mull any other takeover options during a “go-shop” window. But one contender that had been considered a serious suitor has reiterated that it won’t be making another proposal for Paramount.

“At this point in time … it does not fit well with our strategy, and that is a judgment that we have handed down,” said Sony president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki during an Aug. 7 earnings call when asked whether the company would make another proposal for the Redstone-controlled film and TV empire.

The exec later added of Paramount, “If we have to acquire the entire organization, it would be quite risky because our capital allocation itself — it may not be well fitted to our capital allocation strategy.”

Earlier in the sales process, Sony...

Billionaire and one-time media mogul Edgar Bronfman Jr. is still considering making an offer for Paramount Global.

A rep for Bronfman confirmed that he is evaluating options for a potential bid for Paramount. His continued interest in the media conglomerate was first reported by Axios.

On July 7, Paramount Global and Skydance Media, David Ellison’s smaller media and production company, announced a two-part transaction that will result in Skydance buying out Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. and then merging with Paramount, whose properties include CBS, Paramount Pictures, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks.

About $6 billion of the $8 billion to fund the deal is coming from the family of Oracle founder Larry Ellison (David’s father) and about $2 billion is from Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital Partners private-equity investment firm.

Under a “go-shop” provision in that agreement, Paramount Global has the right to solicit a better offer in a 45-day window,...

Disney announced that Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle, is departing its board of directors after six years.

Disney and Catz did not provide an explanation for why she stepped down from the Mouse House’s board. With Catz’s departure, the size of Disney’s board has been reduced from 12 directors to 11. According to a Disney filing with the SEC, Catz informed the company on Thursday (July 18) that she would leave the board.

Disney’s board was in the spotlight earlier this year when activist investor Nelson Peltz tried to win a pair of seats (one for himself and one for ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo) in a monthslong proxy fight. Peltz had accused Disney’s board members of falling down on the job, specifically with respect to vetting a CEO successor for Iger. At Disney’s annual shareholder meeting in April, investors reelected all 12 incumbent directors (including Catz) — and decisively...

Investor Mario Gabelli represents clients owning millions of Paramount shares, and he’s not 100% satisfied with what he’s seen in the new merger deal.

Mario Gabelli isn’t ready to back off his hesitance about the Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger. The two companies have finally agreed on the terms of a deal that will see Skydance CEO David Ellison acquire National Amusements Inc., the holding company that controls most of Paramount’s “Class A” voting stock. Ellison will then merge Paramount and Skydance, but Gabelli — who’s firm represents the company’s second-largest stockholder — filed a lawsuit in Delaware court late last week, as he tries to determine if the deal represents the best value for his investment clients or not.

Key Details: Gabelli is suing to get a better look at Paramount’s books before the deal goes through. The investor first voiced his skepticism about...

Paramount Global and Skydance may have agreed in principle to an $8bn merger deal, however the former is allowed to pursue a better offer during a “go-shop” period that can be extended beyond August 21.

In a filing with the United States Securities And Exchange Commission on Thursday, days after the deal was announced, Paramount Global said the go-shop period can be rolled out to September 5 should it be engaged in talks with another entity that it believes would yield a “superior proposal”.

The filing confirmed Paramount Global would pay David Ellison’s Skydance and his bid partners a $400m termination...

Paramount Global’s “go-shop” window, or the period in which the company can evaluate any other takeover offers, ends Aug. 21, according to securities filing disclosed Thursday.

The go-shop period allows a 45-day window for the special committee of Paramount’s Board of Directors to evaluate or seek out better offers. However, if Paramount does not choose to go with the Skydance offer, it will be forced to pay a $400 million breakup fee.

This comes after Shari Redstone agreed July 7 to sell her majority stake in Paramount Global to a consortium led by Skydance, the production company helmed by David Ellison, and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital.

If the deal closes (they expect approvals to take nearly a year), Paramount would acquire Skydance, with Ellison becoming CEO of the combined company and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell would become its president. The deal is expected to close in the first half...

David Ellison started his pursuit of Paramount Global last winter — 30 years nearly to the month after Sumner Redstone and Barry Diller began their long M&a fight for control of one of Hollywood’s foundational studios.

A generation later, Ellison’s Skydance Media and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital are poised to add a new chapter to the history of Paramount, CBS and more, after an equally protracted and hard-fought negotiations with Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. So, assuming the $8 billion transaction is completed, what do they plan to do with their prize?

The new leadership team, which includes Ellison as chairman-ceo of the merged company and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell as president, sought to answer that question as it made the rounds with analysts and reporters after clinching the sale agreement on July 7. Ellison, 41, leaned on his roots as a scion of the tech sector to explain how...

Skydance CEO David Ellison said Tom Cruise of Paramount’s Mission Impossible and Top Gun franchises “is supportive of the planned merger and that the “outreach that we have received from the entertainment community has been pretty remarkable and humbling.”

“I think there’s a great opportunity, the fact that we’ll have one of the first owned and operated studios, that will be that will be stable, that can think long term. That’s not just going to have to focus on tomorrow but can focus on several years from now. We really are going to take the long-term approach to this business. And it’s been it’s been really exciting, encouraging and humbling that the greatest filmmakers in the world and artists are supportive of this transaction,” he said today in an interview with CNBC.

Skydance has made nine movies with Cruise, he said, calling the actor “one of the greatest,...

Is Skydance Media the forward-looking entity that Paramount Global needs right now to save the company?

Ending months of M&a drama, Paramount Global and Skydance Media, David Ellison’s smaller media and production company, on Sunday announced a two-part transaction that will result in Skydance buying out Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. and then merging with Paramount — to form what the Skydance team for now is calling “New Paramount.” About $6 billion of the money to fund the deal is coming from the family of Oracle founder Larry Ellison (David’s father), with about $2 billion from Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital Partners private-equity investment firm.

The companies said they expect the deal to close by Sept. 30, 2025, pending regulatory clearances (analysts don’t expect any major hurdles there) and other conditions. Here are key questions that remain about the deal.

Can Skydance Really Turn the New Paramount Into a Tech-Forward Entertainment Company?...

“Global” is in the name above the door and industry-watchers are weighing the international ramifications of Skydance’s $8B merger investment in Paramount.

Paramount Global top brass has said it is business as usual until the deal is over the line, but international analysts are already considering what happens next given the company’s major free-tv operations in the Argentina, Australia, Chile and the UK, cable nets around the world, Fast service Pluto TV, and local iterations of Paramount+.

That’s not to mention SkyShowtime, a joint-venture streamer operated with Comcast, and a long-established program sales business that shops the likes of the NCIS and CSI franchises around the world.

Takeovers naturally give staffers cause for concern. The presentation accompanying the post-announcement conference call detailed $2B+ of “cost efficiencies.” Skydance does not, however, have anywhere near the international footprint or headcount of Paramount, meaning there isn’t the scope for...

As news of Skydance Media’s merger with Paramount Global sank in across the media business, top execs from Skydance and chief backer RedBird Capital on Monday lifted the veil on negotiations, streaming plans, their regulatory outlook, Larry Ellison’s role and a host of other topics.

One question on the minds of many: After years of struggle, with deep-pocketed tech titans able to pay more to lure away talent, how will the recapitalized Paramount make its pitch to the creative community?

“When you create that culture of creativity and set a high bar, it’s our hope that the most talented people in the whole world will want to call Paramount home,” Skydance CEO David Ellison said.

Jeff Shell, a senior RedBird exec and former NBCUniversal CEO who is in line to become president of Paramount when the deal closes, cited a stream of back-and-forths with talent on emails and texts in recent months.

Less than 24 hours after sealing an agreement to buy Paramount Global, David Ellison moved into mogul mode for the first time on Monday morning, addressing investors and, later, a gaggle of media reporters to discuss his milestone Skydance-Paramount Global deal.

As Chairman and CEO of the enlarged Paramount, Ellison will now occupy a space he hasn’t before: sitting at the levers of power for a multinational company behind content production and distribution, news, sports and gaming.

“My first job was as a computer programmer at Oracle,” the Skydance founder recalled to reporters Monday morning, following his presentation to Paramount Global investors. His tech background plays heavily into his vision for the merged company. The son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, David and his investors are blaring the message that the new Paramount will be a “confluence of art, first and foremost, working hand in hand with technology.”

But,...

Late Sunday night, after the consortium led by David Ellison’s Skydance sealed the deal to ultimately gain control of Paramount Global, Ellison spoke with Shari Redstone, who controlled the company through her family’s National Amusements and ultimately made the call to sell the family business.

Redstone “was incredibly gracious and kind,” Ellison recalls.

The Skydance mogul spoke to reporters Monday, joined by Jeff Shell, who will be president of the new Paramount, as well as Gerry Cardinale, the founder of RedBird Capital, which backed the deal.

“What’s very important for Shari and her family is the protection of her family’s legacy,” Cardinale says. “And the way to do that is you recapitalize this over 100-year-old business, and you keep it as Paramount, you don’t take it private, break it up, kill it. And so that’s what, from day one, that has been the fundamental crux of this entire deal,...

To help Paramount Global to grow, its new owner needs to make cuts.

Skydance executives who are set to take over the owner of CBS, Nickelodeon and MTV have identified at least $2 billion in cost cuts that can be made at the company, much of it from its linear media operations, according to Jeff Shell, who is slated to be named president of the new entity. Skydance and Shari Redstone, Paramount’s current controlling shareholder, struck a deal Sunday that will have the former take over National Amusements, Redstone’s investment vehicle, and inject capital into Paramount.

Executives believe in the potential for linear media, said Shell, but need to make changes to wring cash flow. The cost cuts,, targeted with the help of consultants at Bain & Co., can be made “quickly,” Shell said. “Linear is going to keep declining,” he added during a call Monday with investors. Managed properly,...

Now that Shari Redstone has signed on the dotted line to sell her father’s media empire to Skydance and RedBird Capital, what future awaits?

The vision for a combined Skydance – tech scion David Ellison’s production entity behind franchises like “Mission: Impossible” – and Paramount Global has been reported in dribs and drabs over months of a dramatic deal (which only weeks ago was formally off). An official announcement late on Sunday sheds light on what Paramount’s new owners have in store.

First, and perhaps most importantly, Skydance is dropping $1.5 billion on Paramount’s balance sheet – a cash infusion that hopes to embolden the studio to woo creatives with “stability,” as the formal announcement said, and make brands like Paramount Pictures and CBS more competitive for top talent and packages.

New Paramount, the working title for the merged companies, “will be a premier, creative-first destination for storytellers, dedicated to...

It’s official. Paramount and Skydance are merging.

Paramount’s board announced late Sunday, July 7 that it has approved a deal that will allow David Ellison’s Skydance and RedBird Capital Partners to purchase National Amusements, which controls the majority of shares in Paramount, and allowing Ellison to make Paramount merge it with his company. All in, Ellison will be paying $8 billion in equity, including $1.5 billion in cash being contributed to help pay down Paramount’s $14 billion in debt.

Ellison is Paramount Global’s new CEO and chairman, and former NBCUniversal boss Jeff Shell is president. It’s expected that RedBird CEO (and former CNN chief) Jeff Zucker and Skydance creative chief Dana Goldberg will all have leadership roles.

“This is a defining and transformative time for our industry and the storytellers, content creators and financial stakeholders who are invested in the Paramount legacy and the longevity of the entertainment economy,...

In a landmark deal that will shake up the entertainment landscape, Shari Redstone has agreed to sell control of Paramount Global to a consortium led by Skydance, the production company led by David Ellison, and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital, the company behind Jeff Zucker-led RedBird Imi.

The sale, assuming it is approved by regulators and completed (and assuming a better bid does not emerge), would see Skydance acquire Redstone’s majority stake in National Amusements, which in turn would secure control of Paramount, the owner of the Paramount film and TV studios, Paramount+, CBS, and cable channels like Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central.

The consummation of the deal is the culmination of months of “will they or won’t they” speculation, with the Skydance consortium beginning talks late last year, only to see multiple rounds of negotiations fall apart when Redstone rejected the deal in place at the 11th hour last month.

David Ellison’s Skydance Media is moving closer to its goal of acquiring Paramount Global now that Paramount board of directors and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone have reportedly signed off on the move.

The New York Times and Bloomberg News reported Sunday evening that Paramount Global’s full board and Redstone have approved the complicated three-way transaction that will take Paramount, CBS and the former Viacom assets out of the hands of the Redstone family for the first time in decades. The transaction still faces a complicated process of regulatory approvals in part because the deal involves Paramount Global’s television stations, which trigger the involvement of the FCC.

Bloomberg News was first to report Sunday that the special committee of Paramount Global’s board of directors tasked with reviewing M&a options has agreed to revised terms for a merger with Skydance. The pact will now be reviewed by the...

In a holiday week shocker, Skydance Media and Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. have quietly renewed acquisition talks and have reached a tentative agreement to acquire Paramount Global.

That deal will now be reviewed by Paramount Global’s special committee of its board of directors that has steered the media giant through its roller coaster ride of M&a activity and speculation since late last year. The new pact with David Ellison’s Skydance Media and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital is believed to include a 45-day period in which Paramount and Nai, which owns Redstone’s controlling share in Paramount, have the right to shop around for a bidder to match the Skydance terms.

News of the renewed talks was first reported Tuesday by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

Related Content: What Went Wrong: Inside Paramount’s Failed Merger Talks With Skydance Media

National Amusements abruptly...

For Shari Redstone, it was nothing personal. But the longer the negotiations went on, the more Redstone fell out of love with the idea of marrying her family’s legacy to David Ellison’s Skydance Media.

So on June 11, as board members of Paramount Global were about to hold a key meeting on the long-gestating deal to merge with Skydance, Redstone was out — even as those around her were still scrambling to get it done.

Earlier that morning, lawyers and bankers for both sides were up at dawn to finish last-minute paperwork in advance of the meeting, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time via videoconference. Skydance leaders believed it would be the last hurdle to clinching an agreement. The economic terms of the deal had been hammered out and revised multiple times by the Paramount board’s special committee overseeing sale talks. After months of highly public negotiations and...