Bob Bakish, chief executive of Paramount stepped down on Monday, effective immediately. Bakish, who was a staunch ally of Shari Redstone, controlling shareholder of Paramount, was pushed out over—among other things—his perceived tepid support for a proposed merger with Skydance, which Redstone has approved, but is awaiting board approval.

Despite recently sweetening its offer with a $3 billion cash infusion to pay down debt, not all shareholders are on board with Skydance. In addition, Sony and Apollo Global Management have recently emerged as alternative suitors. 

The announcement, which was not unexpected, was made on Monday, with the company being run by three executives Brian Robbins, head of the Paramount movie studio; George Cheeks, chief executive of Paramount’s CBS division; and Chris McCarthy, chief executive of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios.

In addition to its film division, Paramount's media properties including BET, CBS (including CBS Television Studios and CBS Television Distribution), Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Showtime. The company, which has struggled to adapt to declining pay-TV revenues and increased competition from the streaming market, has been a takeover target for years. Redstone has reportedly been disappointed in Bakish’s stewardship of the company, particularly after it passed on a $5.5 billion deal from Blackstone to acquire its Showtime cable network in 2021. 

Bakish—who had been with Paramount since 1997 and took over as CEO when it was Viacom in 2016—is expected to leave the company with a severance package of $50.6 million, according to the New York Times.

NEW YORK—After multiple reports that a merger was on the horizon, CBS and Viacom have officially announced a finalized agreement that will combine the two companies once again after initially splitting in 2006. The combined company will go by ViacomCBS Inc.

As previously reported, Bob Bakish, president and CEO of Viacom, will serve in the same position for the combined company. CBS’ president and acting CEO Joe Ianniello will now have the title of chairman and CEO of CBS, where his responsibility will be to oversee all CBS-branded assets. Other leadership positions will be occupied by Christina Spade as executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Christa D’Alimonte as EVP, general counsel and secretary. Shari Redstone, who served as vice chair for both companies, will now be the chair of ViacomCBS Inc.

“Today marks an important day for CBS and Viacom, as we unite our complementary assets and capabilities and become one of only a few companies with the breadth and depth of content and reach to shape the future of our industry,” said Bakish in the company’s official press release.

“My father [Summer Redstone] once said ‘content is king,’ and never has that been more true than today,” said Redstone. “Through CBS and Viacom’s shared passion for premium content and innovation, we will establish a world-class, multiplatform media organization that is well-positioned for growth in a rapidly transforming industry.”

ViacomCBS Inc. now houses CBS, CBS Sports, CBS News, Showtime, Comedy Central, BET, MTV, the Paramount Network, Ten Australia, Nickelodeon, CBS All Access, 5, Pop, PlutoTV, the CW and Paramount Studios. According to the company’s release, ViacomCBS has a 22% share of the U.S. TV audience; production capabilities across five continents; a library of more than 140,000 premium TV episodes and 3,600 films; and a global reach of more than 4.3 billion cumulative TV subscribers across more than 180 countries.

Moving forward, the company has devised a three-part growth strategy that includes accelerating its direct-to-consumer strategy; enhancing distribution and advertising opportunities; and to create a leading producer and licensor of premium content to third-party platforms globally.

The merger is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, but the company expects the transaction to close by the end of 2019. It also forecasts that the merger will offer $500 million in cost savings within the first two years of closing.

Recent reports have revealed another step toward the proposed CBS-Viacom merger, with multiple outlets writing that in the event of a merger Viacom CEO Bob Bakish would be selected as the CEO of the combined company.

In addition to Bakish’s position within the proposed new company, it was reported that acting CBS CEO Joe Ianniello would take on a new role overseeing the company’s CBS-branded content, and CBS’s CFO Christina Spade would serve as the CFO.

Talks of CBS and Viacom—which are both controlled by the family of Summer and Shari Redstone—merging into a single entity have been underway for some time. A merger would bring together CBS’ broadcast network and sports franchises with Viacom’s cable networks.

Both companies are scheduled to conduct quarterly earnings calls on Thursday, Aug. 8, during which it is believed that a merger could be announced. Though according to the Los Angeles Times’ report on the news, talks are still fluid and this is not a final agreement on management structure; nor were the companies’ valuations agreed upon as of yet.