At last it’s official: media giants CBS and Viacom have entered into a definitive agreement to create a combined company global, multi-platform, premium content company that the two parties say will be one of the most important content producers and providers in the world.
The all-stock merger creates a combined company to be known as ViacomCBS which boasts more than $28 billion in revenue and which claims to now have the assets, capabilities and scale to be one of the most important content producers and providers in the world with leadership positions in markets across the US Europe, Latin America and Asia.
ViacomCBS will include consumer brands such as CBS, Showtime, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central and Paramount Network and crucially for the modern TV and video industry it will have a portfolio of direct-to-consumer platforms, including both subscription and ad-supported offerings.
The company noted that in what it called a quickly evolving media landscape, the combined company will benefit from its distinct competitive position as one of the most important global content providers – for its own platforms as well as for third parties. It added that going forward it would pursue a three- part strategy for growth: accelerate direct-to-consumer strategy; enhance distribution and advertising opportunities; create a leading producer and licensor of premium content to third-party platforms globally
The merger follows a fractious few months’ worth of wrangling over both companies’ futures, in particular deciding upon a combined leadership team and also after months of battles for control of CBS. The company's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, daughter of retired Viacom mogul Sumner Redstone, had wanted CBS and sister media company Viacom to merge, a move that the CBS board of directors had expressed reservations about.
The respective companies have decided that Viacom president and chief executive officer Bob Bakish will hold the same roles at the combined company while Joe Ianniello, president and acting chief executive officer of CBS will become chairman and CEO of CBS, overseeing all CBS-branded assets.
Commenting on the merger, Bakish said that combining the assets and capabilities of CBS and Viacom sees the creation of only one of a few companies with the breadth and depth of content and reach to shape the future of our industry. “Our unique ability to produce premium and popular content for global audiences at scale – for our own platforms and for our partners around the world – will enable us to maximise our business for today, while positioning us to lead for years to come,” he asserted. “As we look to the future, I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities ahead for the combined company and all of our stakeholders.”
Ianniello added: “This merger brings an exciting new set of opportunities to both companies. At CBS, we have outstanding momentum right now – creatively and operationally – and Viacom’s portfolio will help accelerate that progress.”
ViacomCBS will include consumer brands such as CBS, Showtime, Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central and Paramount Network and crucially for the modern TV and video industry it will have a portfolio of direct-to-consumer platforms, including both subscription and ad-supported offerings.
The company noted that in what it called a quickly evolving media landscape, the combined company will benefit from its distinct competitive position as one of the most important global content providers – for its own platforms as well as for third parties. It added that going forward it would pursue a three- part strategy for growth: accelerate direct-to-consumer strategy; enhance distribution and advertising opportunities; create a leading producer and licensor of premium content to third-party platforms globally
The merger follows a fractious few months’ worth of wrangling over both companies’ futures, in particular deciding upon a combined leadership team and also after months of battles for control of CBS. The company's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, daughter of retired Viacom mogul Sumner Redstone, had wanted CBS and sister media company Viacom to merge, a move that the CBS board of directors had expressed reservations about.
The respective companies have decided that Viacom president and chief executive officer Bob Bakish will hold the same roles at the combined company while Joe Ianniello, president and acting chief executive officer of CBS will become chairman and CEO of CBS, overseeing all CBS-branded assets.
Commenting on the merger, Bakish said that combining the assets and capabilities of CBS and Viacom sees the creation of only one of a few companies with the breadth and depth of content and reach to shape the future of our industry. “Our unique ability to produce premium and popular content for global audiences at scale – for our own platforms and for our partners around the world – will enable us to maximise our business for today, while positioning us to lead for years to come,” he asserted. “As we look to the future, I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities ahead for the combined company and all of our stakeholders.”
Ianniello added: “This merger brings an exciting new set of opportunities to both companies. At CBS, we have outstanding momentum right now – creatively and operationally – and Viacom’s portfolio will help accelerate that progress.”
