Paramount Global

By 2023 Paramount Global emerged as an archetype for the media industry’s consolidation conundrum. The company consists of Paramount Pictures, the CBS broadcast network, 28 owned-and-operated local CBS stations, the streaming service Paramount+, free advertising-supported Pluto TV, “Star Trek,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET and Showtime. It also owns the physical Paramount studio lot in Los Angeles, California. Viacom Inc. was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in cinema and cable television. It was the world's sixth largest broadcasting and cable company in terms of revenue. CBS and Viacom merged to become ViacomCBS in 2019, something of a reunion for the two companies, which had split in 2006. The streaming service CBS All Access was rebranded as Paramount+ in 2021. ViacomCBS (VIACA), the company announced the new name - Paramount - will take effect on February 16 2022 as the company celebrates Paramount+ — its streaming service, which launched in 2021. National Amusements owns 77.3% of Paramount Global’s Class A (voting) common stock and 5.2% of the Class B common stock, constituting about 10% of the overall equity of the company. Paramount Global’s market value was below $8 billion as of October 2023. It also has about $16 billion in long-term debt. Shari Redstone has recently dabbled around the edges, shedding some assets, such as book publisher Simon & Schuster, and engaging in talks to sell a majority stake in cable network BET.