NEW YORK—Sumner Redstone, who built Viacom and eventually acquired CBS, passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 11. He was 97.

Redstone bought a controlling interest in Viacom in 1987, becoming its executive chairman of the board before taking over as CEO from 1996 to 2005. Viacom, with networks like Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and Showtime became a major player in the cable TV market. Redstone led Viacom through its acquisition of CBS in 2000. When he separated the two companies in 2005, Redstone maintained control of both as the executive chairman. Redstone eventually resigned his role with the companies after a court ordered he be examined by doctors as his health worsened.

In the last year, Viacom and CBS were once again merged into a single entity, ViacomCBS, under the guidance of Redstone’s daughter, Shari Redstone

Restone had a reputation in the industry for being combative, entering into many legal battles with companies and individuals.

Bob Bakish, president and CEO of ViacomCBS, said of Redstone: “Sumner Redstone was a brilliant visionary, operator and dealmaker, who single-handedly transformed a family-owned drive-in theater company into a global media portfolio. He was a force of nature and fierce competitor, who leaves behind a profound legacy in both business and philanthropy. ViacomCBS will remember Summer for his unparalleled passion to win, his endless intellectual curiosity and his complete dedication to the company. We extend our deepest sympathies to the Redstone family today.”

NEW YORK—The merger of CBS and Viacom will officially be completed on Dec. 4 the two companies announced, launching the rebranded company of ViacomCBS Inc.

The deal will be completed after market hours on Dec. 4, with ViacomCBS Inc. beginning to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Dec. 5.

This merger represents a reunification of CBS and Viacom, as the two companies split originally in 2006.

Bob Bakish will be the president and CEO of ViacomCBS Inc. Joe Ianniello will now serve as chairman and CEO of CBS, overseeing CBS-branded content.

ViacomCBS Inc. is now the parent company of 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.

WASHINGTON—Massachusetts Senator and Democratic frontrunner Elizabeth Warren has raised concerns over the CBS/Viacom merger agreed this week.

Warren tweeted on Thursday: “First Disney acquired 21st Century Fox. Now CBS and Viacom are merging. Consolidation raises serious concerns for consumers, employees, and the entire sector. The Department of Justice should be paying close attention.”

Where the Disney/Fox deal resulted in job losses, concerns are currently low over cuts regarding ViacomCBS.

However the reaction on Wall Street has reportedly been mixed, with questions raised over the viability of the new company’s management structure.

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.

NEW YORK—Viacom has announced that it is acquiring Pluto TV, a five year-old free ad-supported streaming network for $340 million in cash.

Pluto was founded in 2013 and offers more than 100 channels and thousands of hours of on-demand content spanning television, movies, sports, news, gaming, etc. The network has established partnerships with more than 130 media companies including major film and television studios and a variety of digital content producers.

It has more than 12 million monthly active users, 7.5 of whom are on connected TVs, and is also supported by all major streaming devices including Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Sony Playstation consoles as well as integrated into Samsung and Vizio smart TVs. Pluto says it has “also secured new distribution deals that will make the service available on tens of millions of additional devices in the coming months."

With competitors such as AT&T, Disney and Comcast’s NBCUniversal planning to launch direct to consumer streaming services this year, Viacom—which doesn’t have any local broadcast stations or sports rights—will be able to use the acquisition monetize its content and help expand the universe for its cable channels—including Comedy Central and MTV—whose future existence could be threatened by cord-cutting and pay-TV subscriber losses.

“Today marks an important step forward in Viacom’s evolution, as we work to move both our company and the industry forward. Pluto TV’s unique and market-leading product, combined with Viacom’s brands, content, advanced advertising capabilities and global scale, creates a great opportunity for consumers, partners and Viacom,” said Bob Bakish, Viacom President and CEO. “As the video marketplace continues to segment, we see an opportunity to support the ecosystem in creating products at a broad range of price points, including free. To that end, we see significant white space in the ad-supported streaming market and are excited to work with the talented Pluto TV team, and a broad range of Viacom partners, to accelerate its growth in the U.S. and all over the world.” Viacom’s global footprint, portfolio of entertainment brands, deep content library and additional marketing resources will further enrich Pluto TV’s product and consumer experience and provide a clear roadmap for international expansion.

“Since our launch less than five years ago, and particularly over the past year, Pluto TV has enjoyed explosive growth and become the category leader in free streaming television," said Pluto TV CEO and Co-Founder Tom Ryan. "Viacom’s portfolio of global, iconic brands and IP, advanced advertising leadership and international reach will enable Pluto TV to grow even faster and become a major force in streaming TV worldwide. Viacom is the perfect partner to help us accomplish our mission of entertaining the planet.”

Ryan will continue to serve as CEO of Pluto TV, which will operate as an independent subsidiary of Viacom upon closing of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019 and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.

Twitter announced new content deals and renewals with 30 partners at its NewFront presentation Monday night (April 30) in New York.  

The activity nearly doubles the number of deals the social media company announced last year.

NBCUniversal, ESPN, Will Packer Media, Viacom and Hearst are among the companies providing content that will appear on Twitter.

“Twitter is the only place where conversation is tied to video and the biggest live moments, giving brands the unique ability to connect with leaned-in consumers who are shaping culture,” said Twitter global VP of revenue and content partnerships Matthew Derella. “That’s our superpower.”

Programs dedicated to topics like women’s empowerment and communities like Black Twitter were introduced to complement the rich conversation about these movements on the platform.

[Read: Bloomberg, Twitter Launch First 24/7 Global Social News Network]

Twitter also announced a Creators Originals, Powered by Niche, a network working with creators to make premium original series on Twitter.

It also introduced a Live Brand Studio, which will help brands create content for Twitter and provide analytics.

Under the deal with NBCUniversal, NBCU will distribute on Twitter live video and clips from units including NBC, NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemudo, Today and E! News.

Other entertainment programming will be provided by Live Nation, Ellen Digital Sudios and Hearst Magazine Digital Studios.

Viacom will be bringing back exclusive red carpet coverage of big award shows on MTV and BET. New shows from Viacom include the Comedy Central Creators Room, BET Breaks, MTV News and MTV News International.

Inspired by the cultural phenomenon of Black Twitter, Power Star Live from executive producer Will Packer’s Will Packer Media, is a 30-minute weekly show streamed live from the Atlanta University Center in Atlanta. It brings together the most entertaining, enlightening and comedic content across Twitter feeds while attributing and highlighting diverse voices.

Twitter will also be getting news content from BuszFeed, Vice, #Huff Post, History and Vox Media.

Sports content will emanate from ESPN, including SportsCenter, Turner’s Bleacher Report, The Players’ Tribune and Barstool Sports, and sports leagues including Major League Beaseball, MLS and Formula One.

BURLINGTON, MASS.—Avid and Viacom are teaming up on a new multiyear enterprise agreement designed to enhance Viacom’s worldwide production infrastructure on Avid’s MediaCentral platform. Viacom plans to invest in Avid tools to create, manage, deliver and optimize media content.

In addition to using the MediaCentral platform to enhance collaboration, Viacom will create a path to the cloud by deploying Avid’s Media Composer | Cloud Remote platform, which enables editors to remotely connect and collaborate with teams anywhere.

The details of the enterprise agreement will have MediaCentral support Viacom brands that include Paramount, Nickelodeon, BET Networks and CMT in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville and Miami, as well as Viacom International Networks. Defined technology upgrades and refresh cycles will enable Viacom to optimize content across its facilities, per the official press release.

NEW YORK—Using the stage of Fox’s broadcast of “Grease Live!” back in January, Viacom Media Networks Music and Entertainment Group launched its Atlas remote production unit equipped with Lawo’s mc266 audio console.

The Atlas mobile audio production unit is made up of two 53-foot trailers. It features an installed mc266 console that consists of a main section with central mix positioning containing 48 faders. The console also comes with two 16 fader wings mounted left and right that can be used to from an 80 fader mixing desk or as auxiliary mix positions. The system infrastructure supports 384 channels and includes 240 mic pre-amps.

In addition, Lawo’s Nova 73 routing technology is part of the console core where all audio routing is performed and can be controlled by either the A1 or the EIC from multiple points within the truck or remotely. Three DALLIS Stageboxes and a plug-in server were also provided by Lawo.

According to Lawo, this is the latest collaboration with Viacom’s remote production units, currently appearing on five audio production units.