Skydance Media and Paramount Global have officially completed their long-awaited $8 billion merger, creating a new standalone entertainment company: Paramount, a Skydance Corporation.
The deal, years in the making, marries Skydance’s modern production muscle and technology expertise with Paramount’s century-old film and TV library, global distribution network, and iconic brands like CBS, MTV, and Nickelodeon. It’s also a financial lifeline for Paramount, which has been under pressure from debt, sliding cable revenues, and a costly pivot to streaming.
Why it matters: for the past decade, Paramount has been in survival mode, losing ground as audiences ditched cable and cinemas for Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, and Prime Video. Skydance brings fresh leadership, stronger balance sheets, and a modern production pipeline, assets Paramount has struggled to build on its own.
Backdrop: the merger comes amid internal turbulence. Just last month, Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit with U.S. President Donald Trump over a controversial 60 Minutes interview, stirring tensions inside CBS News and reigniting editorial independence concerns.
Now, with streaming competition still intensifying, Paramount is betting that this reboot, backed by Skydance’s resources, can keep it from being written out of Hollywood’s future.