National Amusements in the context of "Federal Communications Commission"

Concentration of media ownership, also known as media consolidation or media convergence, is a process wherein fewer individuals or organizations control shares of the mass media. Research in the 1990s and early 2000s suggested then-increasing levels of consolidation, with many media industries already highly concentrated where a few companies own much of the market. However, since the proliferation of the Internet, smaller and more diverse new media companies maintain a larger share of the overall market. As a result, many of the references below on this page are of declining relevance in comparison to the influence of digital media companies such as Meta, ByteDance or X.

Globally, some of the largest media conglomerates include Bertelsmann, National Amusements (Paramount Global), Sony Group Corporation, News Corp, Comcast, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox Corporation, Hearst Communications, Amazon (Amazon MGM Studios), Grupo Globo (South America), and Lagardère Group.

Paramount Skydance Corporation (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It is headquartered at the Paramount Pictures lot in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, with offices at the previous Skydance Media headquarters in Santa Monica, California and the previous Paramount Global headquarters at One Astor Plaza in New York City.

The company was formed on August 7, 2025 by David Ellison, through the merger of Paramount Global, National Amusements, and Skydance Media. The company trades under the ticker symbol "PSKY" on the Nasdaq.

Skydance Media, LLC (formerly known as Skydance Productions from 2006 to 2016) was an American film production and finance company based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by David Ellison on April 4, 2006, the company specialized in films, animation, television, video games, and sports.

In 2009, the company entered a five-year partnership to co-produce and co-finance films with Paramount Pictures. This agreement was renewed twice, extending to 2021. On July 7, 2024, Skydance announced its intent to merge with Paramount Global in an $8 billion transaction, under an agreement in which Skydance would acquire Paramount's controlling shareholder National Amusements, and then perform an all-stock merger with the company. On July 24, 2025, the merger was approved by the FCC, and the merger was closed on August 7, 2025, forming Paramount Skydance (which the Skydance Media library transferred to Paramount Pictures).

Paramount Global, also known by its trade name as simply Paramount and formerly ViacomCBS, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan that was in operation from December 4, 2019 to August 7, 2025.

Established through the merger of the second incarnations of Viacom and CBS Corporation, which were split from the original Viacom on December 31, 2005, it took its latest name on February 16, 2022. Paramount's main properties include the namesake Paramount Pictures Corporation, the CBS Entertainment Group (consisting of the CBS television network and television stations as well as The CW and other CBS-branded assets), the BET Media Group (which oversees BET and its sister channels), Paramount Media Networks (consisting of locally-based cable television networks including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, CMT, Paramount Network and Showtime) and Paramount Streaming (including Paramount+ and Pluto TV). It also has an international division that manages international versions of its cable networks, as well as region-specific assets including Argentina's Telefe, Chile's Chilevisión, the United Kingdom's 5 and Australia's Network 10. From 2011 to 2023, the division also owned a 30% stake in Rainbow S.p.A. of Italy. As of 2019, the company operates over 170 networks and reaches approximately 700 million subscribers in 180 countries.

The first incarnation of Viacom Inc. (derived from "Video & Audio Communications") was an American mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in New York City. It began as CBS Television Film Sales, the broadcast syndication division of the CBS television network on March 16, 1952; it was renamed CBS Films in 1958, renamed CBS Enterprises in 1968, renamed Viacom in 1970, and spun off into its own company in 1971. Viacom was a distributor of CBS television series throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and also distributed syndicated television programs. The company came under Sumner Redstone's control in 1987 through his cinema chain company National Amusements.

At the time of its split, Viacom's assets included the CBS and UPN broadcast networks, the Paramount Pictures film and television studio, local radio station operator CBS Radio, cable channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, and Showtime, outdoor media operator Viacom Outdoor, television production and distribution firm King World Productions, and book publisher Simon & Schuster. It also owned its IP holding subsidiary Viacom International and brand licensor Westinghouse Licensing Corporation.

Sumner Murray Redstone (né Rothstein; May 27, 1923 – August 11, 2020) was an American billionaire businessman and media magnate. He was the founder and chairman of the second incarnation of Viacom, chairman of CBS Corporation (both companies merged in 2019, a year before Redstone's death), and the majority owner and chairman of the National Amusements theater chain.

Until his death, Redstone was a majority voting shareholder of the media conglomerate ViacomCBS, the parent company of the Paramount Pictures film studio, the CBS television network, and various cable networks.

The second incarnation of Viacom Inc. (/ˈvaɪəkɒm/ VY-ə-kom or /ˈviːəkɒm/ Vie-ah-kom; a portmanteau of Video & Audio Communications) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate with interests primarily in film and television. It was split from the original Viacom on December 31, 2005, alongside the second incarnation of CBS Corporation. The controlling shareholder of both companies was National Amusements, a theater company headed by businessman Sumner Redstone. The split was structured so that the original Viacom changed its name to CBS Corporation and spun out its cable and film interests as a new Viacom.

The second Viacom operated Viacom Media Networks, through which it controlled approximately 170 networks and reached approximately 700 million subscribers in approximately 160 countries. Viacom's studio assets included Paramount Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Animation Studio, as well as a 30% ownership stake in the Rainbow S.p.A. animation studio. CBS Corporation retained the over-the-air broadcasting, television production, pay television subscription service, and publishing assets, which were previously owned by the first Viacom. The second Viacom was the world's ninth-largest media company in terms of revenue and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.

On July 7, 2024, American media companies Skydance Media and Paramount Global announced a definitive agreement to merge in a deal valued at $8 billion, forming a new entity known as "Paramount Skydance Corporation". The agreement valued the newly formed entity at approximately $28 billion.

In 2023, after grappling with debt and striving to remain competitive in the entertainment industry, Paramount's parent company, National Amusements, explored potential merger and acquisition opportunities for Paramount Global. Skydance reached a preliminary agreement on July 2, 2024, to perform a 3-way merger between it, National Amusements, and Paramount to establish what was then known as "New Paramount". After the merger closed, Skydance Media CEO David Ellison became the chairman and CEO of the combined company and Jeff Shell became the president.