CBS-Viacom Merger

Viacom and CBS followed last week’s merger news with regulatory filings Monday that laid out some key details of their long-awaited reunion, including executive compensation, board makeup and breakup fees. Breakup fees are always part of the mix when it comes to mergers, but forgive the skeptics in media and on Wall…

UPDATED with closing prices and additional details: Shares in Viacom and CBS both declined more than 8% Wednesday as investors absorbed the details of the companies’ long-awaited merger during a broader stock market retreat. CBS stock closed at $44.62, 8% lower, and Viacom at $26.72, down 8.5%. Worries about weak…

The ViacomCBS merger news came as a relief to many Tuesday, with some investors and observers tipping their hats to the new company's prospects and the stocks of both companies ticking up 2% on the news. But there were also plenty of naysayers, and not all of the blowback was confined to social media. Todd Juenger, an…

Investors long ago factored in the expected reunion of CBS and Viacom to their valuation of the companies’ stock prices, so Wall Street’s reaction to the confirmation of the merger was understandably muted. CBS gained a bit less than 2% to finish the day at $48.81, while Viacom also climbed nearly 2% to close at…

The introduction of Mr. Spock last season on the sleek CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery may be the first in many new frontiers for the fabled franchise now that the Paramount-owning Viacom and CBS are boldly going toward corporate reunification. Taking a page from the now Fox-expanded Disney book, new ViacomC…

Cementing the long-awaited merger of CBS and Viacom, the heads of each company, Bob Bakish at Viacom and Joe Ianniello at CBS, conveyed the news to their troops without sugarcoating the “challenges” of uniting two large organizations. Ending years of on-again, off-again discussions, the companies said Tuesday they are…

Joe Ianniello might be the new chairman and CEO of CBS as part of the new ViacomCBS, but the longtime executive has ceded some Showtime territory to big boss Bob Bakish as Viacom and the home of Blue Bloods hooked up again after a 13-year break. The move leaves David Nevins now answering to two kings, at least for the…

Ending years of fitful discussions that played out against a backdrop of operatic corporate drama and media industry consolidation, CBS and Viacom have finally agreed to merge. The deal reunites the companies, pooling assets such as Paramount Pictures, CBS, Showtime and MTV in a new entity to be called ViacomCBS Inc.…

As media giants gird for battle with Netflix and Amazon, CBS and Viacom continue to pursue marginally more patient streaming strategies, gaining steady ground without spending their way into trouble. Now, as the companies prepare finally to consummate a merger that has been many years in the making, they stand to…

Ahead of the CBS-Viacom merger, Viacom has re-upped Paramount Pictures Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos to a new, multi-year contract. In addition, Paramount's current production president Elizabeth Raposo has extended her contract. Gianopulos has been running the studio since 2017, following the tenure of the late…

Reporting second-quarter results on the same day that sister company Viacom reported its own stellar financials, CBS set records for revenue, adjusted operating income and earnings per share. The EPS figure of $1.16 beat Wall Street estimates by three cents and revenue of $3.81 billion also cleared the bar set by…

As the drumbeat grew louder for a long-awaited merger with CBS, Viacom reported third-quarter earnings that beat market expectations. Earnings per share came in at $1.20 on Thursday, beating the consensus estimate from analysts of $1.07, while revenue of $3.36 billion beat the estimate of $3.33B. Domestic advertising…