Fiktiv USA - ViacomCBS

ViacomCBS Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media conglomerate and formed through the merger of the second incarnation of CBS Corporation and the second incarnation of Viacom on December 4, 2019, which were split from the first incarnation of Viacom in 2006.

The company's main assets include the Paramount Pictures film and television studio, CBS Entertainment Group (consisting of the CBS television network, television stations, and other CBS-branded assets), domestic networks (consisting of U.S.-based basic and premium-tier cable television networks including MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central, and Showtime), international networks (consisting of international versions of domestic ViacomCBS networks as well as region-specific networks), the Pluto TV ad-supported television streaming service, and the Simon & Schuster book publisher.

Headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, the company operates over 170 networks and reaches approximately 700 million subscribers in approximately 160 countries, as of 2020.

In 1952, CBS formed CBS Television Film Sales, a division which handled syndication rights for CBS's library of television series. This division was renamed CBS Films in 1958, and again renamed CBS Enterprises Inc. in January 1968, and finally renamed Viacom in 1970. In 1971, this syndication division was spun off amid new FCC rules forbidding television networks from owning syndication companies. (The rules were abolished completely in 1993.) In 1985, Viacom purchased MTV Networks & Showtime/The Movie Channel Inc. from Warner Communications and American Express. In 1986, Viacom was acquired by its present owner, theater operator company National Amusements. In 1994, Viacom acquired Paramount Communications. In 1999, Viacom made its biggest acquisition to date by announcing plans to merge with its former parent CBS Corporation (the renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which had merged with CBS in 1995). The merger was completed in 2000, resulting in CBS reuniting with its former syndication division. On January 3, 2006, Viacom was split into two companies: CBS Corporation, the former's corporate successor and the spun-off Viacom company.

On September 29, 2016, National Amusements, the parent company of CBS Corporation and Viacom, wrote to Viacom and CBS encouraging the two companies to merge back into one company. On December 12, the deal was called off.

On January 12, 2018, CNBC reported that Viacom had re-entered talks to merge back into CBS Corporation, after the merger of AT&T-Time Warner and The Walt Disney Company's proposed acquisition of most of the 21st Century Fox's assets were announced. Viacom and CBS also faced heavy competition from companies such as Netflix and Amazon. Shortly afterward, it was reported that the combined company could be a suitor for acquiring the film studio Lionsgate. Viacom and Lionsgate were both interested in acquiring The Weinstein Company. Following the Weinstein effect, Viacom was listed as one of 22 potential buyers that were interested in acquiring TWC. They lost the bid, and on March 1, 2018, it was announced that Maria Contreras-Sweet would acquire all of TWC's assets for $500 million. Lantern Capital would later acquire the studio.

On March 30, 2018, CBS made an all-stock offer slightly below Viacom's market value, insisting that its existing leadership, including long-time chairman and CEO Les Moonves, oversee the re-combined company. Viacom rejected the offer as too low, requesting a $2.8 billion increase and that Bob Bakish be maintained as president and COO under Moonves. These conflicts had resulted from Shari Redstone seeking more control over CBS and its leadership.

Eventually, on May 14, 2018, CBS Corporation sued its and Viacom's parent company National Amusements and accused Redstone of abusing her voting power in the company and forcing a merger that was not supported by it or Viacom. CBS also accused Redstone of discouraging Verizon Communications from acquiring it, which could have been beneficial to its shareholders.

On May 23, 2018, Les Moonves explained that he considered the Viacom channels to be an "albatross," and while he favored more content for CBS All Access, he believed that there were better deals for CBS than the Viacom deal, such as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lionsgate, or Sony Pictures. Moonves also considered Bakish a threat because he did not want an ally of Shari Redstone as a board member of the combined company.

On September 9, 2018, Les Moonves exited CBS following multiple accusations of sexual assault. National Amusements agreed to make no proposal of a CBS-Viacom merger for at least two years after the date of the settlement.

On May 30, 2019, CNBC reported that CBS Corporation and Viacom would explore merger discussions in mid-June 2019. CBS's board of directors was revamped with people who were open to merging; the re-merger was made possible with the resignation of Moonves, who had opposed all merger attempts. The talks had started following rumors of CBS acquiring Starz from Lionsgate. Reports said that CBS and Viacom reportedly set August 8 as an informal deadline for reaching an agreement to recombine the two media companies. CBS announced to acquire Viacom as part of the re-merger deal for up to $15.4 billion.

On August 2, 2019, it was reported that CBS and Viacom agreed to merge back into one entity which would be named CBSViacom. Both companies came to an agreement on the management team for the merger, with Bob Bakish serving as CEO of the combined company with president and acting CEO of CBS, Joseph Ianniello, overseeing CBS-branded assets. On August 7, 2019, CBS and Viacom separately reported their quarterly earnings as the talks about the re-merger continued.

On August 13, 2019, CBS and Viacom officially announced their merger; the combined company was to be named ViacomCBS, with Shari Redstone serving as chair. Upon the merger agreement, Viacom and CBS jointly announced that the transaction is expected to close by the end of 2019, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. The merger required approval by the Federal Trade Commission.

On October 28, 2019, the merger was approved by National Amusements, which then announced the deal would close in early December; the recombined company will trade its shares on NASDAQ under the symbols "VIAC" and "VIACA" after CBS Corporation delist its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

On November 25, 2019, Viacom and CBS announced the merger would close on December 4 and begin trading on NASDAQ on next day. On December 4, 2019, Bakish confirmed that the ViacomCBS merger had closed.

On December 10, 2019, Bakish announced that ViacomCBS would look to divest Black Rock, the building that held CBS's headquarters since 1964. He stated, "Black Rock is not an asset we need to own and we believe that money would be put to better use elsewhere." On December 20, 2019, ViacomCBS agreed to acquire a 49% minority stake in film studio Miramax from beIN Media Group for $379 million. As part of the purchase, Paramount Pictures reached a long-term deal for exclusive distribution rights to its library, and first-look agreements to co-develop new film and television projects based on Miramax-owned properties.

On March 2, 2020, executive vice president Dana McClintock announced that he would depart the company after 27 years in CBS Communications. On March 4, the company announced plans to potentially sell its Simon & Schuster publishing unit, with Bakish arguing that it lacked a "significant connection for our broader business.”

On June 19, 2020, Jaime Ondarza, formerly the senior vice president of Turner Broadcasting South Europe and Africa, became the new head of ViacomCBS Networks International for France, Spain, Italy, the Middle East, Greece and Turkey.

On August 4, 2020, ViacomCBS announced that the connected video advertising platform EyeQ is set to launch in this fall.

On September 14, 2020, ViacomCBS announced an agreement to sell CNET Media Group to Red Ventures for $500 million. The deal will include the eponymous CNET tech site, as well as ZDNet, GameSpot, the TV Guide digital assets, Metacritic, and Chowhound. The deal was closed on October 30, 2020.

On November 17, 2020, Vivendi, Penguin Random House and HarperCollins had considered acquiring Simon & Schuster for as much as $1.7 billion. ViacomCBS expected the bids to be placed before Thanksgiving 2020 (November 26). On November 25, 2020, Penguin Random House agreed to purchase Simon & Schuster for $2.175 billion, pending regulatory approval.

List of assets owned by ViacomCBS:
Paramount Pictures Corporation (Filmed Entertainment)
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Home Entertainment
Paramount Pictures International
Paramount Studio Group – physical studio and post production
- The Studios at Paramount – production facilities & lot
- Paramount on Location – production support facilities throughout North America including New York, Vancouver, and Atlanta
- Worldwide Technical Operations – archives, restoration and preservation programs, the mastering and distribution fulfillment services, on-lot post production facilities management
Paramount Licensing, Inc.
Paramount Parks & Resorts – licensing and design for parks and resorts
Paramount Digital Entertainment
Paramount Animation
Paramount Players
- BET Films
- Comedy Central Films
- MTV Films
- Nickelodeon Movies
Paramount Television Studios
Miramax (49%, co-owned with beIN Media Group)
United International Pictures (50%, co-owned with NBCUniversal via Universal Pictures)

CBS Entertainment Group (TV Entertainment)
CBS Television Network
CBS News
- CBSN
- CBS Telenoticias
- CBS Radio News
CBS Sports
- CBS Sports Network
- CBS Sports HQ
- CBS Sports Radio
The CW (50%, with WarnerMedia's Warner Bros. division)
- The CW Plus
- The CW Daytime
- CW Seed
Decades (50%, with Weigel Broadcasting)
CBS Studios
- Big Ticket Television
- CBS Media Ventures
CBS Media Ventures Media Sales
Dabl
- CBS Eye Animation Productions
Late Night Cartoons, Inc.
- CBS Productions – produces The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS
CBS Home Entertainment
CBS Interactive
- CBS.com
- StarTrek.com (also owned by CBS Studios and CBS Television Distribution)
- CBS Interactive Advanced Media
- CBSNews.com
CBS MoneyWatch
- CBS Sports Digital
CBSSports.com
247Sports.com
MaxPreps
Scout.com
- Last.fm
- Watch! Magazine
- CBS Television Stations
KCBS-TV 2 / KCAL-TV 9 Los Angeles
KOVR 13 / KMAX-TV 31 Sacramento – Stockton – Modesto, California
KPIX-TV 5 / KBCW 44 San Francisco – Oakland – San Jose, California
KCNC-TV 4 Denver, Colorado
WFOR-TV 4 / WBFS-TV 33 Miami–Fort Lauderdale, Florida
WTOG 44 St. Petersburg – Tampa, Florida
WUPA 69 Atlanta
WBBM-TV 2 Chicago
WBXI-CD 47 Indianapolis
WJZ-TV 13 Baltimore
WBZ-TV 4 / WSBK-TV 38 Boston
WWJ-TV 62 / WKBD-TV 50 Detroit / Windsor, Ontario
WCCO-TV 4 / KCCW-TV 12 Minneapolis–Saint Paul — Walker, Minnesota
WCBS-TV 2 / WLNY-TV 55 Riverhead – New York City
KYW-TV 3 / WPSG 57 Philadelphia
KDKA-TV 2 / WPCW 19 Jeannette – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
KTVT 11 / KTXA 21 Fort Worth – Dallas
KSTW 11 Tacoma – Seattle
Fave TV
- CBS Local Digital Media
- CBS Local
CBSN New York
CBSN Los Angeles
CBSN Boston
CBSN Bay Area
CBSN Minnesota
CBSN Philly
CBSN Denver
CBSN Pittsburgh
CBSN Chicago
CBSN Dallas–Ft. Worth
CBSN Sacramento
CBSN Baltimore
CBSN Miami
- CBS Local Sports
CBS Films (producing content for CBS All Access)
CBS Vision

Cable Networks
Domestic Media Networks
BET
BET Gospel
BET Her
BET Hip-Hop
BET Jams
BET Soul
- Showtime Networks
Showtime
Showtime 2
Showcase
SHO×BET
Showtime Extreme
Showtime Family Zone
Showtime Next
Showtime Women
The Movie Channel
The Movie Channel Xtra
Flix
Showtime Documentary Films
Showtime PPV
Showtime Digital, Inc.

MTV Entertainment Group
Comedy Central
- Comedy Central Now
- Comedy Central Productions
- Comedy Central Records
CMT
- CMT Canada (10%)
- CMT Music
Logo
MTV
MTV2
MTV Classic
MTV Live
MTVU
Tr3s
MTV Studios
- MTV Documentary Films
- MTV Animation
- SnowGlobe Music Festival
Paramount Network
Pop TV
Smithsonian Channel
- United Kingdom
- Canada (6.67% minority stake; joint venture with Blue Ant Media)
TV Land
VH1

Kids and Family Group
Nickelodeon
- Nick at Nite
Nick Jr.
Nicktoons
TeenNick
NickMusic
Nick.com
Noggin
Nickelodeon Records
- Nickelodeon Animation Studio
- Nickelodeon Digital
- Nickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Velocity
Paws, Inc.
AwesomenessTV

ViacomCBS Ad Solutions
ViacomCBS Velocity
WhoSay

Consumer Products, Recreation and Live Events
Bellator MMA
- Bellator Kickboxing
ViacomCBS Digital Studios
- ViacomCBS Digital Studios International
ViacomCBS Consumer Products
Viacom International
VidCon

International Networks
- Comedy Central Extra
- Super!
- Game One
- J-One
Ananey Communications
- Ego
- The Food Channel
- The Travel Channel
- The Good Life Channel
- Health Channel
- Nutz Productions
- Shamaim Productions
- Mars Interactive
- Post Office Post Production & Creative
- Porta dos Fundos (51%)
- CBS Action (Poland; joint venture with AMC Networks International)
- CBS Drama (joint venture with AMC Networks International UK)
- CBS Europa (Poland; joint venture with AMC Networks International)
- CBS Justice (joint venture with AMC Networks International UK)
- CBS Reality (joint venture with AMC Networks International)
- Horror Channel (joint venture with AMC Networks International UK)
Viacom 18 (49%; co-owned with TV18)
- Viacom 18 US
- Viacom 18 Media
- Colors
- Colors Infinity
- Colors Rishtey
- Colors Cineplex
- Colors Marathi
- Colors Kannada
- Colors Super
- Colors Kannada Cinema
- Colors Bangla
- Colors Bangla Cinema
- Colors Odia
- Colors Gujarati
- Colors Gujarati Cinema
- Colors Tamil
Viacom18 Studios
- The Indian Film Company
- Voot
Rainbow S.r.l. (30%)
- Colorado Film (60%)
- Bardel Entertainment
- Rainbow CGI
- Witty Toys
- Tridimensional S.r.l.

Global Distribution Group
ViacomCBS Global Distribution
Paramount Worldwide Television Licensing & Distribution
ViacomCBS International Studios
- ViacomCBS International Studios UK

Streaming Group
BET+
Paramount+ (launching in 2021)
Philo (minority stake; co-owned with A+E Networks, AMC Networks, and Discovery, Inc.)
Pluto TV
Pluto TV Europe GmbH

Other assets
CBS Broadcast Center
CBS Building
CBS Experiences
CBS Operations Inc.
CBS Sporting Club
CBS Stages Canada
CBS Studio Center
CBS VFX
Ed Sullivan Theater
Westinghouse Licensing Corporation