$8bn Paramount-Skydance merger to close on August 7 after FCC approval

Paramount+ gangster drama MobLand

The Paramount-Skydance merger is expected to officially close on August 7, the companies announced on Friday, with the newly merged entity to then begin trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol PSKY.

With the US$8bn deal receiving Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval on Thursday, Skydance’s tumultuous takeover of Shari Redstone’s media empire is now a formality.

On Friday, Paramount Global’s co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins thanked staff for their “resilience, creativity and dedication” as the company reaches the “end of a historic chapter for Paramount and prepare[s] for a new era.”

The trio, which led the company for the past 15 months after former CEO Bob Bakish was ousted from the position, also addressed the fact changes are forthcoming, telling staffers: “We realise you will have many questions about the transition process, and we will provide updates as soon as the information becomes available to us.”

Exactly what those changes will look like remains unclear, but David Ellison-led Skydance last year said it had identified around US$2bn in post-merger savings. In the time since the Skydance takeover was first announced, in July 2024, Paramount Global has already made around US$500m in annualised cost savings.

The first significant change emerged last week, with McCarthy, who is also the president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, set to depart once the transaction closes. Cheeks is expected to stay on, while Robbins is also thought to be leaving.

The industry is eagerly awaiting how Paramount Global’s commissioning priorities may change post-merger, with former Netflix and Sister exec Cindy Holland expected to lead programming at Paramount+, the streamer behind series including MobLand, Landman, 1923 and Dexter: Original Sin.

The FCC’s approval of the deal has created controversy and headlines, with US Senator Elizabeth Warren last week reiterating that Paramount’s US$16m settlement with Trump looked like bribery and calling for an investigation.

Of the “crooked-looking” settlement, Warren said: “I’ve been ringing the alarm bell for months, launching a Senate investigation into possible corruption, and this merger must be investigated for any criminal behavior. It’s an open question whether the Trump administration’s approval of this merger was the result of a bribe.”

Even one of the FCC’s own commissioners, Anna M Gomez, who did not vote in favour of the transaction, said the moves Paramount and Skydance have made in recent months to appease the FCC, including a pledge to scrap all internal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, make the situation appear suspicious.

Gomez said the FCC is “undermining legitimate efforts to combat discrimination” and imposing “never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law.”

“After months of cowardly capitulation to this administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted. Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions,” she added.

Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins concluded their note by saying, “because of you, Paramount is in a much better place today than it was a year ago, and it has been an honour to lead the company over the past year and work alongside you.”