- Viacom and CBS have officially merged as part of their all-stock deal — which has been three years in the making
Viacom and CBS have officially merged as part of the all-stock deal. This deal has been three years in the making. Now ViacomCBS will be generated over $28 billion in revenue and hit 4.3 billion cumulative TV subscribers across the world.
ViacomCBS’ portfolio includes the CBS broadcast network, the Paramount movie studio, Showtime, several streaming services, cable channels like MTV and Nickelodeon, and book publisher Simon & Schuster.
Viacom and CBS are not the only major media companies to merge. Some of the other big media mergers include Disney and Fox, AT&T and Time Warner, and Discovery and Scripps.
“This is a historic moment that brings together two iconic companies to form one of the world’s most important content producers and providers,” said former Viacom president and CEO Robert M. Bakish — who will be the head of ViacomCBS as president and CEO. “Through the combination of CBS’s and Viacom’s complementary assets, capabilities and talented teams, ViacomCBS will create and deliver premium content for its own platforms and for others, while providing innovative solutions for advertisers and distributors globally. I am excited about the opportunity we have to serve our audiences, creative and commercial partners, and employees while generating significant long-term value for our shareholders.”
Acting CBS CEO Joe Ianniello is now the chairman and CEO of CBS. Plus he will continue to head the CBS-branded assets for the combined company. CBS Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Christina Spade will retain the same role. And Viacom CFO Wade Davis will be leaving as the merger closes. Shari Redstone is the chairman of the combined company.
Jo Ann Ross is going to be president and chief advertising revenue officer of domestic advertising sales at ViacomCBS. Ross had received the job over Viacom ad sales head Sean Moran. Moran is going to be leaving the company.
John Halley, the COO of ad solutions and EVP of Advanced Marketing Solutions at Viacom, is going to serve as COO of ad revenue and retain the EVP position while reporting to Ross. And Halley is going to head the commercial and business operations for the unified advertising team as well the portfolio of advanced advertising and marketing solutions at ViacomCBS.
The merger was announced last summer. And now the combined company will have the largest share of U.S. TV audience (22%) among all of the media companies. And it would also be on top in all major U.S. demos, including the total audience.
Before officially merging, ViacomCBS had moved around a few executives, including Chris McCarthy and David Nevins. McCarthy — the former president of MTV, VH1, CMT, and Logo — became the president of entertainment and youth brands at ViacomCBS’ domestic media networks, heading up brands like Viacom’s Comedy Central, TV Land, and Paramount Network along with CBS’ Smithsonian Channel. Nevins also added oversight of BET along with all the CBS properties he already oversees. BET president Scott Mills retained the role and is reporting to Nevins. Kent Alterman — who was running Comedy Central since 2016 — left the company as part of the restructuring.
Nickelodeon head Brian Robbins is going to continue running the kids network as president of kids and family entertainment at ViacomCBS domestic media networks. And he will also continue running Awesomeness — which he founded in 2012 before leaving the company in 2017 when he was made the president of Paramount Players. Viacom bought Awesomeness last year.
Marc DeBevoise was promoted to CEO of CBS Interactive. And he will be heading up all digital operations of ViacomCBS as chief digital officer. Pluto TV CEO and co-founder Tom Ryan is going to continue reporting directly to Bakish.
Kelly Day — the head of Viacom Digital Studios — will be keeping that role and will report to DeBevoise. CBS CTO Phil Wiser is going to have the same role at the combined company.
Jim Gianopulos is going to oversee filmed entertainment and keep the same position as chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures. Carolyn Reidy will be continuing as the president and CEO of Simon & Schuster.
