Never underestimate the will of Shari Redstone, chairwoman of National Amusements. Or perhaps that should be amended to “never underestimate the will of any Redstone.” Today, after three years of corporate intrigue, CBS and Viacom have grudgingly reunited. The biggest obstacle to the merger, Les Moonves, collapsed under a scandal of his own making. Redstone’s now 96-year-old father, Sumner, battling the effects of Father Time, couldn’t stop it either. And now, it’s Shari who is the chairperson of the combined board for the new company and, arguably, the most powerful woman in global media.
Some quick backstory for those of you who don’t pay attention to the corporate comings and goings. CBS originally came under the control or Sumner’s Viacom (originally a spin-off from CBS in 1971) in 2000. Less than six years later, Sumner decided to split the assets back into separate companies while his National Amusements controlled both entities. Under Moonves leadership, CBS became a darling of investors earning record profits and dominating the ratings in a rapidly fading broadcast model. Viacom, on the other hand, which was the home to cable networks such as MTV, VH1 and BET as well as Paramount Pictures, slowly began to spiral. By 2016, Sumner Redstone had replaced Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, his longtime lieutenant, with Robert Bakish. Within months rumors were flying that Shari Redstone wanted the companies to reunite. At that point, Moonves had the backing of Wall Street and her plan to have Backish lead the combined companies simply wasn’t going to fly. Enter Moonves’ long in the works personal #MeToo scandal which flipped the script entirely. Now, effectively a year from National Amusements promising not to try to force a Viacom merger with CBS for two years, the two companies are one with Bakish as CEO, no less. Welcome to the stage, ViacomCBS, Inc.
There, of course, is much more intrigue in the story of forced reunification. So much so that it might make the writers of HBO’s similarly themed “Succession,” blush. But with ascension of Netflix and the recent Disney-Fox merger changing the media landscape both companies had little choice. And with no disrespect to Netflix, there are once again four major power players in the global entertainment world: Disney, WarnerMedia (AT&T), NBCUniversal (Comcast) and ViacomCBS. And the latter has a bunch of catching up to do.
Disney, Warner Media and NBCUni all have major streaming platforms launching in the next year. Platforms that will compete with Netflix, Amazon and Apple’s upcoming Apple+. ViacomCBS has just CBS All Access, a mildly successful spin-off from CBS that has barely penetrated the cultural landscape of PeakTV (at least based on what little is known of its viewership). Is there even time to pose a challenge with a ViacomCBS streaming option? Has that window passed? Moreover, relatively new Paramount CEO and Chairman Jim Gianopulos has been presented with the toughest challenge of his career, turning around one of Hollywood’s legendary studios. A studio that even after acquiring DreamWorks almost a decade ago is arguably is still down to just three reliable franchises (if that): “Transformers,” “Star Trek” and “Mission:Impossible.” Gianopulos has seen some signs of life in the movie slate with “A Quiet Place” and “Rocketman,” but the studio still has a way to go. Hopefully, this merger will give Paramount a larger financing lifeline to take even bigger creative sings.
It should be noted that the new company’s lifeblood is still television ad sales. ViacomCBS claims to have a combined 22% marketshare of the U.S. TV audience. And brands such as Nickelodeon, the CW and MTV will continue to dominate the kid and teen demos for the time being. But in a world where NBCUni and WarnerMedia “seem” to have carved out their own goldmines alongside Disney’s dominance how much has really changed since the companies were originally combined in the mid-00’s? A stronger Showtime? Pop TV? CBS All Access? The Paramount Network? Needless to say, there are many wondering just where Bakisn and Shari Redstone try and take the not-so new entity from here.
