Future of Paramount+ among merger talks

[Char Kais]

Ellison has plenty to do without getting into the day-to-day weeds of Star Trek. (There's still the little matter of an $8 billion merger to attend to.)

I know. But that was JJ Trek and in the last decade. So let's see.


I would have preferred the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount and the “Axe of Zaslav”.

https://www.axios.com/2023/12/20/warner-bros-paramount-merger-discovery-streaming

 

[Danja]

I know. But that was JJ Trek and in the last decade. So let's see.


I would have preferred the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount and the “Axe of Zaslav”.

https://www.axios.com/2023/12/20/warner-bros-paramount-merger-discovery-streaming

Warner and Discovery are splitting:

Warner Bros. Discovery to Separate into Two Leading Media Companies - Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery, a premier global media and entertainment company, offers audiences the world's most differentiated and complete portfolio of content, brands and franchises across television, film, streaming and gaming. The new company combines WarnerMedia's premium entertainment, sports...

www.wbd.com

What precisely is happening in 5 days?

The Skydance/Paramount merger closes/finalizes.

 

[Campe]

Yup, it’s all going to change on day one. Because that’s a great strategy for any company.

 

[Quinton]

Five more days.

lol, that’s not how any of this works.

 

[Firebird]

Yup, it’s all going to change on day one. Because that’s a great strategy for any company.

I'm sure all the money men at Paramount would love to illegally break Kurtzman's contract before it's up for renewal and spend an assload of cash in legal fees. That'll show 'em.

 

[Danja]

I'm sure all the money men at Paramount would love to illegally break Kurtzman's contract before it's up for renewal and spend an assload of cash in legal fees. That'll show 'em.

They've spent enough money as is pacifying Donald Trump.

 

[Danja]

Skydance-Paramount Post-Merger Hierarchy Made Official

Sources tell us that Skydance-Paramount is going to make official their corporate hierarchy tomorrow morning.

deadline.com

It's official:

Cindy Holland, former Netflix TV chief and former Global CEO of Elisabeth Murdoch and Jane Featherstone‘s Sister, will be the head of DTC, Paramount+ and Pluto. Sources tell us she’ll report directly to Ellison.

As expected, Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks will be one of the old Paramount execs to segue over (co-CEO Chris McCarthy having already signaled his exit, and co-CEO Brian Robbins expected). Cheeks will continue to oversee CBS and would add McCarthy’s cable network portfolio. Currently Cheeks has CBS Entertainment, CBS News and Stations, CBS Sports under his oversight, as well as CBS Studios — the largest TV production unit within Paramount-Skydance, and Paramount’s syndication business, CBS Media Ventures.

 

[Noname Given]

Skydance-Paramount Post-Merger Hierarchy Made Official

Sources tell us that Skydance-Paramount is going to make official their corporate hierarchy tomorrow morning.

deadline.com

It's official:

Cindy Holland, former Netflix TV chief and former Global CEO of Elisabeth Murdoch and Jane Featherstone‘s Sister, will be the head of DTC, Paramount+ and Pluto. Sources tell us she’ll report directly to Ellison.

As expected, Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks will be one of the old Paramount execs to segue over (co-CEO Chris McCarthy having already signaled his exit, and co-CEO Brian Robbins expected). Cheeks will continue to oversee CBS and would add McCarthy’s cable network portfolio. Currently Cheeks has CBS Entertainment, CBS News and Stations, CBS Sports under his oversight, as well as CBS Studios — the largest TV production unit within Paramount-Skydance, and Paramount’s syndication business, CBS Media Ventures.

Well looks like going forward nothing on P+ will get more than 3 seasons.

 

[Danja]

Skydance-Paramount Post-Merger Hierarchy Made Official

Sources tell us that Skydance-Paramount is going to make official their corporate hierarchy tomorrow morning.

deadline.com

The company is expected to be structured into three primary business segments: 1) Studios; 2) Direct-to-Consumer (DTC); and 3) TV Media.

 

[Danja]

Skydance Unveils Board Of New Paramount With Former Studio Chief Sherry Lansing, Oracle CEO Safra Catz

Skydance Media today unveiled the full slate of director designees for the new Paramount Skydance as the merger is set to close this week.

deadline.com

David Ellison‘s Skydance Media today unveiled the full slate of director designees for the new Paramount Skydance. They will be elected and begin serving on the Paramount board effective at the closing of the proposed merger Thursday.

The board will consist of 10 members with Sherry Lansing, former chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, one of three independent directors with Barbara Byrne, former vice chair of Barclays who currently sits on the Par board, and Justin G. Hamill, Managing Director and Chief Legal Officer, Silver Lake. Oracle CEO Safra Catz will join the board as well with Ellison, RedBird Capital’s founder and managing partner Gerry Cardinale and its chairman John Thornton, incoming president Jeff Shell, and future chief strategy and chief operating officer Andy Gordon.

Lansing is a legend (she has bigger balls than a lot of the guys).

 

[Danja]

Paramount Skydance Merger Finally Closes

Paramount Global and Skydance Media have reached the end of their long and winding merger road, announcing the close of their $8.4 billion combination.

deadline.com

Paramount Global and Skydance Media have finally reached the end of their long and winding merger road, announcing the close of their $8.4 billion combination and opening a new chapter for Hollywood.

The newly combined company is officially known as “Paramount, A Skydance Corporation,” according to a press release. Its stock will begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq, under the ticker symbol PSKY.

 

[Danja]

Paramount Shifting Its Corporate Headquarters To L.A., Keeping Skydance Base In Santa Monica

Paramount, whose corporate predecessors were strongly identified with New York, will be headquartered in L.A. after merging with Skydance Media.

deadline.com

After the $8.4 billion closing of the merger of Paramount and Skydance formally closed on Thursday, company leaders visited New York for a press conference. One details to emerge from that 90-minute gathering was the fact that Paramount, whose corporate predecessors, Paramount Global, Viacom and CBS Corp., were all strongly identified with New York, will now be headquartered in L.A.

Where companies are officially headquartered is not as significant as it was in the pre-digital age. Thanks to technology, shareholder meetings and other corporate functions can be handled by a number of remote offices, of which the newly merged Paramount has several. Yet the main corporate address of any company can be a defining characteristic. Just ask people in Battle Creek, MI about breakfast cereal.

Note to people outside the U.S.A. : Battle Creek, Michigan is the home of Kellogg's, a manufacturer of breakfast cereal.

 

[bdub76]

I don't mind him writing and/or producing.

Showrunner? No.

He's SO infatuated with 80's/90's Trek that he risks resurrecting all that was negative about it (the erasure of the LGBTQ+ community, reducing women to being helpmates for the guys, etc.).

To be fair, Star Trek really peaked in the 90s, and it hasn't returned to that level of popularity since. It was definitely of its time.

 

[Danja]

To be fair, Star Trek really peaked in the 90s, and it hasn't returned to that level of popularity since. It was definitely of its time.

We didn't have the options that we have today. (Back then, it was network, cable, and/or syndication. Streaming did not exist.)