Entertainment Inside Us (Insidus)

PTVS’ shutdown will result in the exit of 20-30 employees. All current PTVS series and development projects will be folded into CBS Studios. “To be clear, this is not a decision based on how PTVS performed. This move is the result of significant changes in the TV and streaming marketplace and the need to streamline our company,” Cheeks said. “Under Nicole’s leadership, this studio consistently punched above its weight in attracting top storytellers and stars to create best-in-class series. I want to thank every PTVS employee for shepherding a slate of shows that helped usher Paramount into the streaming era.” Headed into the current wave of layoffs that will impact 15% of Paramount Global’s U.S. workforce over the next few months for $500M in savings, there had been chatter about Paramount TV Studios as a potential casualty following a string of downsizing/consolidation moves since CBS Studios and Paramount TV Studios were put together under Cheeks’ purview in the fall of 2

With Skydance currently undergoing a potential takeover of Paramount after receiving approval from Shari Redstone . The merged seeks reduce costs which amount to $2 billion dollars  which may include retrenchment, possible sale of assets and as seen with Paramount+ content cuts. In the UK, it had revealed by a viewer that MTV Hits and MTV 80s are both receiving the same frequencies as those seen in other parts of Europe (EMEA). For those who aren't familiar with these brands, MultiChoice once carried the pop centered MTV Hits before replacing it with jazz infused Qwest TV . Canal+ who similar to Skydance are looking to also gobble up an existing company or in this case MultiChoice also distributes MTV Hits for consumers in Ethopia and alongside MultiChoice offer MTV, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.  Prior to these takeovers, Paramount was doing a lot of budget cuts take for instance the main MTV channel which had been unified across Europe. These endeavors had also reached k

The suit, which was filed in Delaware court by Class B common stockholder Scott Baker, broadly alleges that controlling shareholder Shari Redstone forced through an “unfair” deal that benefits her and Paramount’s parent company National Amusements Inc (NAI) at the expense of Class B shareholders, who had no say in the deal. The suit argues Redstone was intent on selling her interest in Paramount to Skydance “regardless of its impact on other Paramount shareholders.” Through a unique ownership structure, the Redstone family’s holding company NAI owns 77% of the voting shares in Paramount, though it only holds a roughly 10% equity stake. Under the proposed deal, Paramount’s Class B stockholders can cash out their shares at US$15. However, the suit alleges there isn’t enough money in the deal to buy out all of the non-NAI Class B shares. Instead, argues the suit, shareholders would get a mix of cash and Class B stock in the merged entity amounting to only US$12.23 per Class B

Paramount Global parent National Amusements and Skydance Media have agreed to merge less than a month after the sides abruptly ended deal talks. Paramount, owner of Paramount Pictures movie and television studios, the CBS television network and CBS News, announced in a news release late Sunday that it is combining with Skydance, an entertainment business founded by David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison. Paramount also owns the Paramount+ streaming service, Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and other media brands.  The transaction resolves months of speculation around the future of Paramount, which also reportedly attracted a $26 billion bid from a consortium including Sony Pictures and private equity firm Apollo Global Management. A range of prominent media and entertainment industry executives were also said to have expressed interest in a possible deal for Paramount. Under the two-step deal, Skydance will first pay $2.4 billion for National Amusements, wh

David Ellison‘s Skydance Media has gained a key approval vote for the company’s proposed acquisition of Paramount Global controlling shareholder National Amusements Inc. after seven months of talks. The deal was blessed Sunday by a special committee of Paramount’s board of directors, a person familiar with the matter told Deadline. A formal announcement is expected as soon as Monday morning. Bloomberg News earlier Sunday was the first to report on the special committee vote. While the board committee action is a milestone, one of the features of the current agreement is a 45-day “go-shop” provision, which allows NAI chief Shari Redstone to field alternative offers. Apollo Global Management, Barry Diller and Edgar Bronfman Jr. are among those who have explored bids. Apollo, both on its own and in partnership with Sony Pictures, has submitted formal offers in recent months but they haven’t gained much traction. Under terms of the Skydance agreement, Redstone and her family wi

Just weeks after Paramount’s controlling shareholder and Skydance abruptly ended merger talks , the two sides have reached a preliminary deal to create a new Hollywood giant, four people familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday. The agreement will still have to be approved by a special committee of Paramount’s board of directors, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as talks resumed. Paramount — the parent company of CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon — and Skydance, the up-and-coming movie studio that helped produce “Top Gun: Maverick,” called off talks in June just before a scheduled vote on a merger. While the two sides had agreed on economic terms, Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder through its parent company, National Amusements, had clashed with Skydance in the final weeks of negotiations. But the two sides have continued to talk, and now the Paramount board committee will evaluate whether new terms will be sufficiently palatable for sh

After months of negotiations, Paramount‘s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone has broken off merger talks with David Ellison‘s Skydance, according to the WSJ. The two sides have been deep in discussions during and after a one-month exclusive negotiating period in April and Redstone at one point had favored the deal, which would have paid her a premium, and kept the businesses together, at least initially. The transaction was for Skydance to acquire Redstone’s family holding company NAI, which controls Paramount, and then see Par and Skydance merge. As of this weekend talks were intense but there were a few major sticking points, one said to be over which party party would assume legal liabilities in the case of shareholders lawsuits. Paramount Global stockholders vocally disliked the deal from the start and threatened to sue. Skydance, backed by Larry Ellison and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital, revised the deal several times to sweetened the pot for them, but they sti

Paramount and Skydance have agreed to terms of a merger. A deal could be announced in the coming days, he said. A Paramount special committee and the buying consortium — David Ellison's Skydance, backed by private equity firms RedBird Capital and KKR — agreed to the terms. The deal is awaiting signoff from Paramount's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, who owns National Amusements, which owns 77% of class A Paramount shares, Faber said Monday. The agreement terms come after weeks of discussion and a recent competing offer from Apollo Global Management and Sony Pictures . "We received the financial terms of the proposed Paramount/Skydance transaction over the weekend and we are reviewing them," said a National Amusements spokesperson. The deal currently calls for Redstone to receive $2 billion for National Amusements, Faber reported Monday. Skydance would buy out nearly 50% of class B Paramount shares at $15 apiece, or $4.5 billion, leaving the holder

As some readers are aware, Shari Redstone is looking to sell her shares in Paramount Global home to MTV and Nickelodeon. Currently, Skydance Media and Sony Pictures Television in a joint bid with Apollo Global Management are battling it out. The Sony-Apollo deal has garnered a lot of media scrutiny as insiders report a possible dismemberment of their linear portfolio. With Paramount Studios being merged onto Sony Pictures Television current offering and studio lots auctioned off. Skydance Media proposal is said to be favorable because unlike Sony-Apollo they wouldn't go through any regulatory hurdles for foreign ownership. Their plan would be to merge their operations with Paramount Global of course the finer details haven't been outlined.  From what several sources uncovered, Skydance Media is planning to merge/bundle Paramount+ with another streaming service. It is no secret that Netflix and Disney+ have been edging out the competition so it's likely they

David Ellison’s Skydance has sweetened its offer to acquire Paramount Global, Deadline has learned, in an attempt to make it more palatable to the company’s Class B stockholders after they trashed the outlines of a previous deal and threatened to sue. Ellison’s original offer was to buy out Par’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone for a significant premium, resulting in a windfall for her, and then merge Skydance into Paramount keeping the combined company public. Stockholders wanted to be bought out at a premium as well. Skydance, backed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital, sweetened the offer once late last month — offering to buy out a certain number of Class A voting shares from stockholders other than Redstone — as an exclusive monthlong negotiating period with Par ended. But it wasn’t enough to woo holders of the Class B non-voting stock, who are the majority of shareholders. As the Skydance exclusive talks ended with no deal,

After months of M&A talks, Paramount Global and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone might be going it alone after all — for now. Insiders tell that the expectation at the company is that neither of the two offers in play — Skydance Media-RedBird Capital Partners and Sony Pictures Entertainment-Apollo Global Management — will come to fruition. And Redstone is said to have reluctantly concluded that a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance, a longtime partner of Paramount Pictures, will not be possible. As of Friday morning, the special committee established by Paramount Global’s board to evaluate M&A proposals had not notified Skydance one way or the other about its best and final offer, which would involve Skydance acquiring Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. and merging Skydance and Paramount Global, per a source familiar with the talks. The exclusive negotiating window between Skydance and the Paramount Global board’s special committee established to review M&

Skydance Media is prepared to walk away from its offer for Paramount Global unless it receives a firm commitment from controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, following the latest offer from Apollo Global Management and Sony Pictures, according to a person familiar with the matter. The exclusivity window for discussions between David Ellison's Skydance, backed by private equity firms RedBird Capital and KKR, and Paramount ends Friday and won't be extended, people familiar with the matter mentioned Paramount shares rose following the report. The consortium has been waiting for word from Paramount's special committee on whether the panel will recommend its bid to acquire the company to Redstone. Now, with Apollo and Sony formally expressing interest in acquiring the company for about $26 billion, the Skydance group is looking for Redstone to reaffirm her commitment to the deal. The Skydance consortium is not keen to hang around to be a stalking horse offer for Ap

BBC Children’s, France Télévisions and Germany’s ZDF have ordered Piggy Builders Created by Marie Manand, Julien Hazebroucq and Emmanuelle Leleu, this 52 x 11-minute series stars three pig siblings who are very different individually, but who all share a passion for building projects in their forest home and fending off a meddlesome wolf named Vern. Romain Villemaine (Ricky Zoom, Maya the Bee) is on board to direct, and Piggy Builders‘ first episodes will be unveiled at MIPCOM in October, followed by premieres on CBeebies, France Télévisions and ZDF in Q3 2025. Piggy Builders was originally pitched at Cartoon Forum 2021, where it was well-received, according to Xilam founder and CEO Marc du Pontavice. It’s the studio’s second CG-animated series after Oggy Oggy, which has been acquired by the likes of France Télévisions, Discovery (Italy) and Super RTL (Germany) following its global premiere on Netflix in 2021.    Paramount CEO Bob Bakish is stepping down, will be replaced b

Last week, merger talks for Paramount Global heated up, with reports that the media company that produces and controls the Star Trek franchise had entered into exclusive talks with Skydance Media. One of the big questions has been how such a deal would impact Paramount+, home to original Star Trek programming. Now a picture of a possible future for the streaming service is starting to emerge. Skydance wants to keep Paramount+ When the first reports about Paramount Global potentially being sold or merged started in December, industry analysts suggested Paramount+ might not survive the corporate shake-up. While Paramount has seen consistent growth with its streaming service, it has yet to turn a profit. However, now that Skydance Media is in exclusive talks to take over Paramount, they are apparently planning on keeping Paramount+, but will make some changes. The New York Times reports “The plan calls for Skydance to supercharge Paramount’s streaming capabilities, improving p

Over the last week, news has been flying that Paramount is getting closer to a deal to be sold to or merge with Skydance . This comes as, for months now, Paramount has been in talks with multiple companies for a potential sale or merger. This includes talks with Warner Bros. Discovery, Appollo Global Management, and others. Some of these talks have gone well others like Warner Bros. Discovery have walked away from a possible merger with Paramount. A few days ago Bloomberg reported that a tentative deal has been reached between Paramount and Skydance for a deal that would see the companies merge and Skydance would take a stake in Paramount. Now Bloomberg says that if the deal happens, David Ellison will become the new head of the combined Paramount. He also reportedly plans to spend billions to rebuild Paramount. Before this could happen though Paramoutn and Skydance media would need to merge. This comes after last week Variety reported that Paramount Global has turned down

Over the last 24 hours, news has been flying that Paramount is getting closer to a deal to be sold to or merge with Skydance . This comes as, for months now, Paramount has been in talks with multiple companies for a potential sale or merger. This includes talks with Warner Bros. Discovery , Apollo Global Management , and others. Some of these talks have gone well others like Warner Bros. Discovery have walked away from a possible merger with Paramount. Now Bloomberg is reporting that a tentative deal has been reached between Paramount and Skydance for a deal that would see the companies merge and Skydance would take a stake in Paramount. This comes after yesterday Variety reported that Paramount Global has turned down an offer to sell itself to Apollo Global Management for $27 billion. This offer was reportedly made over the weekend as a cash deal, but Shari Redstone, the majority owner of Paramount, declined to entertain the bid. Exact details of the offer have not been di

The Wall Street Journal reported this afternoon that Skydance, with backing from other investors, is considering an all-cash bid for National Amusements. The Shari Redstone-led company controls nearly 80% of Paramount shares and is the gatekeeper for any M&A deal. Redstone became non-executive chair of Paramount’s board after spending years engineering a merger of CBS and Viacom, with the combined company rebranding as Paramount Global in 2022. She has reportedly grown increasingly interested in fielding offers for the company in recent months. Like many of its media peers, Paramount has lost significant value due to cord-cutting, streaming expenses and concerns about its debt. Skydance and Paramount declined to comment. Reps from National Amusements and Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The future of Paramount has been a fixture of industry conversations over the past month or more. Sources first reported that Skydance and RedBird Capital