Paramount and Skydance close their US$8 billion merger, kicking off reign of new entertainment giant

The main gate to Paramount Studios is seen on Melrose Avenue, July 8, 2015, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

NEW YORK — Skydance and Paramount officially closed their US$8 billion merger on Thursday — kicking off the reign of a new entertainment giant after a contentious, over year-long endeavor to get the transaction over the finish line.

The new company — which will trade under the “PSKY” ticker on Wall Street — brings Paramount’s legacy Hollywood footprint, major TV networks like CBS and MTV, streaming services and more under the roof of a new power player: billionaire Skydance founder David Ellison.

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“Today marks an exciting and pivotal moment as we prepare to bring Paramount’s legacy as a Hollywood institution into the future of entertainment,” Ellison, who is now Chairman and CEO of Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, said in a statement. He added that he aims to “honor exceptional storytelling while modernizing how we make and deliver content.”

The merger’s close came just two weeks after it received regulatory approval from the Trump administration. While now a done deal, the path towards that approval was far from smooth sailing. Months of scrutiny and turmoil surrounded the transaction — particularly amid President Donald Trump’s legal battle with “60 Minutes,” the crown jewel of Paramount-owned broadcast network CBS. With the specter of the Trump administration potentially blocking the hard-fought deal with Skydance, Paramount agreed to pay a US$16 million settlement to the president in early July.

Critics of the settlement lambasted it as a veiled bribe to appease Trump, amid rising alarm over editorial independence overall. Further outrage also emerged after CBS said it was canceling Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” just days after the comedian sharply criticized the parent company’s settlement on air. Paramount cited financial reasons, but big names both within and outside the company have questioned those motives.

When still seeking approval to buy Paramount from the Federal Communication Commission, Skydance management assured regulators that it would carefully watch for any perceived bias at CBS News and hire an ombudsman to review any complaints about fairness. In filings just last month, the company’s general counsel maintained that New Paramount will embody “a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum” — and also noted that it plans to take a “comprehensive review” of CBS to make “any necessary changes.”

By the time the deal was approved, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr hailed the merger as an opportunity to bring more balance to “once-storied” CBS. “Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change,” Carr said.

Carr also pointed to other commitments from Skydance — including company assurances about ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at Paramount. In a letter addressed to Carr days before the FCC’s greenlight, Skydance wrote to “confirm the elimination” of DEI initiatives previously in place at Paramount — and maintained that Skydance “does not have DEI programs in place today and will not establish such initiatives.”

Skydance pointed to the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision on affirmative action in college admissions, but such moves also arrive amid the Trump administration’s wider crackdown on DEI in the workplace — and the company cited recent federal mandates impacting employers, too, noting that Paramount announced “significant changes” to its recruiting and hiring practices in February 2025.

The FCC approved the merger by a 2-1 vote on July 24. The regulator who opposed it, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, expressed disdain for how it all came together — pointing to “months of cowardly capitulation to this administration.”

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“In an unprecedented move, this once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom,” Gomez, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, said in a statement. She also said the agency overstepped its authority by “undermining legitimate efforts to combat discrimination and expand opportunity.”

Paramount’s new leaders will be watched particularly closely for how they deal with CBS News, given the US$16 million settlement with Trump following his complaint about last fall’s “60 Minutes” interview with his Democratic opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. And the merger could also have ripple effects across other Paramount properties, including its late night and comedy programming.

When first announcing the deal in July 2024, Ellison also stressed the need to transition into a “tech hybrid” to stay competitive in today’s entertainment landscape. That included plans to “rebuild” the Paramount+ streaming service, among wider efforts to expand direct-to-consumer offerings in a world with more entertainment options and shorter attention spans.

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Wyatte Grantham-philips, The Associated Press