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Entertainment Giant Paramount Agrees to a Merger with Skydance

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Paramount Pictures studios is pictured in Los Angeles, California, US, September 24, 2023. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Paramount Pictures studios is pictured in Los Angeles, California, US, September 24, 2023. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo
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Entertainment Giant Paramount Agrees to a Merger with Skydance

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Paramount Pictures studios is pictured in Los Angeles, California, US, September 24, 2023. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Paramount Pictures studios is pictured in Los Angeles, California, US, September 24, 2023. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo

Entertainment giant Paramount, which owns CBS and was behind blockbuster films such as “Top Gun" and “The Godfather” has agreed to merge with Skydance, the companies said.
The new combined company is valued at around $28 billion, The Associated Press reported.
“Given the changes in the industry, we want to fortify Paramount for the future while ensuring that content remains king,” said Shari Redstone, chair of Paramount Global.
Redstone's National Amusements owns more than three-quarters of Paramount’s Class A voting shares though the estate of her late father, Sumner Redstone, according to data firm FactSet. Shari Redstone had battled to keep control of the company.
Skydance, based in Santa Monica, California, has helped produce some major Paramount hits in recent years. Those include several Tom Cruise films including “Top Gun: Maverick” and installments of the “Mission Impossible” series.
Skydance was founded in 2010 by David Ellison, son of billionaire Larry Ellison, the founder of the software company Oracle. It quickly formed a production partnership with Paramount that same year.
David Ellison will be chairman and chief executive officer of what’s being called New Paramount. The agreement still needs regulatory approval.
The on-again, off-again merger arrives at tumultuous time for Paramount, which in an annual shareholder meeting in early June laid out a restructuring plan that includes major cost cuts. The company also saw a leadership shakeup earlier this year.
Paramount has struggled in an evolving media landscape, particularly as its traditional cable business has declined. To capture today’s growing streaming audience, the company launched Paramount+ back in 2021, but losses and debts have still piled up over time.
Sumner Redstone used National Amusements, his family’s movie theater chain, to build a vast media empire that included CBS and Viacom, which have merged and separated a number of times over the years. Most recently, the companies re-joined forces in 2019, undoing the split consummated in 2006. The company, ViacomCBS, changed its name to Paramount Global in 2022.
Under Sumner Redstone’s leadership, Viacom became one of the nation’s media titans, home to pay TV channels MTV and Comedy Central and movie studio Paramount Pictures.
Skydance wasn’t the only one to make a Paramount bid in recent months — Apollo Global Management and Sony Pictures also made competing offers. Late last year, Warner Bros. Discovery also made headlines for exploring a potential merger with Paramount. But by February, Warner had reportedly halted those talks.

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Mariah Carey Wasn't Always Sure About Making a Christmas Album

FILE - Mariah Carey performs at the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, Dec. 31, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Mariah Carey performs at the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, Dec. 31, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP, File)
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Mariah Carey Wasn't Always Sure About Making a Christmas Album

FILE - Mariah Carey performs at the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, Dec. 31, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Mariah Carey performs at the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, Dec. 31, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP, File)

Mariah Carey relishes the fact that she has become culturally synonymous with Christmas — thanks in part to the longevity of her iconic song “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” and its ubiquity every year when the holidays roll around.
But the Grammy winner admits she initially wasn’t sure about doing a Christmas record when her label pitched it. “I was a little bit apprehensive,” she recalls, reflecting on her album, “Merry Christmas,” turning 30 this month.
Ahead of her appearance at Sunday’s American Music Awards and an upcoming Christmas tour that kicks off in November, Carey spoke with The Associated Press about the advice she would give to young artists navigating fame and the use of her song, “Always Be My Baby,” in Ari Aster’s 2023 horror comedy, “Beau Is Afraid.”
The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: What has it been like to celebrate nearly 20 years of “The Emancipation of Mimi” and reflect on this album’s legacy? CAREY: I think “The Emancipation of Mimi” is one of my albums where there were different boundaries that got pushed aside and I was really happy about that because I needed to come back, apparently. And so, it was a comeback. But it’s one of my favorite albums. And celebrating it this year and this celebration of “Mimi” was really fun because I never get to do those songs. I never do them. And this this time I did.
AP: Because of that kind of underdog feeling, you felt some artistic liberty and empowerment that maybe you hadn’t before? CAREY: Yeah, I feel like people were ready to re-embrace me. And, you know, how did I feel about that? I mean, I feel like the album “Charmbracelet” was a very good album too, but not everybody knew that album. So, you know, when “We Belong Together” came out after “It’s Like That,” which didn’t do as well but still did pretty well. Whatever.
AP: “It’s Like That” is a great song. CAREY: It’s a good song. And I love performing it. You know, I go through stages with these albums. It’s interesting.
AP: Your first Christmas album, “Merry Christmas,” is turning 30 this month. That was obviously a formative record for you and your career. Do you remember anything about its inception? CAREY: So that was the record company saying, “You should do a Christmas album.” And I was like, “I don’t know that I should at this juncture.” Because, you know, I was very young and was just starting out and I felt like people do Christmas albums later in their lives. But now people have started to do them whenever, like right at the top of their career. So, I mean, what was I feeling like? I was a little bit apprehensive and then I was like, “I love this.” And I decorated the studio and just had the best time.
AP: Chappell Roan has made headlines for speaking out about how she is grappling with sudden fame. As someone who has been in the public eye for so long, do you have advice for young artists who are dealing with this? CAREY: Well, I have been through my share of dramas and it’s not fun because you grow up thinking, “I want to be famous.” I mean, really with me, it was always, “I want to be a singer. I want to write songs.” But “I want to be famous” was right there with it. I feel like it was probably because I didn’t feel like I was good enough on my own because of the things I went through growing up. And that’s not a good way to feel, you know?
But my advice would be try your hardest to go into this industry with a love of your talent or what’s really real for you. You know, if it’s like, “I want to be famous. I want to run around with those people, whoever they are, the famous people,” then it’s probably not the best idea.
AP: Have you seen Ari Aster’s “Beau Is Afraid” with Joaquin Phoenix? CAREY: Yes. I had to approve that. I thought it was interesting the way they used my song, “Always Be My Baby.” That was interesting. I mean, it didn’t really match with the movie, but, you know, I was just being edgy by saying, “You know, okay, fine.” It was very different. I mean, I wasn’t reluctant, but I thought, “This is something way different than I’ve done ever.”