Paramount Global in the context of "Viacom (2005–2019)"

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).

National Amusements, Inc. was an American privately owned movie theater operator and mass media holding company incorporated in Maryland and based in Norwood, Massachusetts, controlled by the Redstone family. The company owned 69 theaters and 667 screens throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and Latin America under several brands, such as Showcase Cinemas, Multiplex Cinemas, and Cinema de Lux. It was the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global.

National Amusements was founded by Michael Redstone, and later passed to his son Sumner Redstone. After his 2020 death, the company was passed to a trust led by his daughter Shari Redstone. After nearly 90 years of control by the Redstone family, in July 2024, David Ellison's Skydance Media announced its intent to acquire National Amusements and perform merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global to form Paramount Skydance Corporation. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global on July 24, 2025, with the merger closing on August 7, 2025, with National Amusements being absorbed into Paramount Skydance.

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.

One Astor Plaza, also known as 1515 Broadway and formerly the W. T. Grant Building, is a 54-story office building on Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Designed by Der Scutt of Ely J. Kahn & Jacobs, the building was developed by Sam Minskoff and Sons. One Astor Plaza occupies a site bounded by Broadway to the east, 45th Street to the north, Shubert Alley to the west, and 44th Street to the south. The building is named after the Hotel Astor, which had occupied the site from 1904 to 1967. SL Green Realty and Allianz own One Astor Plaza, which served as the corporate headquarters of Paramount Global until 2025. The building still serves as a major office for Paramount Skydance.

The building consists of a low base that occupies most of the site, as well as a 745-foot-tall (227 m) tower section with smaller floor areas. The facade is designed in glass and stone, with large signs. The upper stories have dark glass windows, with stone mechanical shafts on all sides of the tower. The lower stories contain a public passageway and retail at ground level, as well as a lobby and Paramount Global's Studio 1515 at the second story. The building was constructed with two theaters: a Broadway house called the Minskoff Theatre on the third floor, as well as a cinema in the basement (now an event venue called Palladium Times Square).

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.