Paramount Global[b] (doing business as Paramount)[4] is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. It was formed on December 4, 2019, as ViacomCBS Inc. through the re-merger of the second incarnation of CBS Corporation and the second incarnation of Viacom[5] (which were split from the original incarnation of Viacom in 2006). On February 16, 2022, during its Q4 earnings presentation, the company announced that it would change its name to Paramount Global.[6]
Paramount’s main properties include the namesake Paramount Pictures film and television studio, the CBS Entertainment Group (consisting of the CBS and The CW television networks, television stations, and other CBS-branded assets), media networks (consisting of U.S.-based cable television networks including MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, Paramount Network and Showtime) and the company’s streaming services (including Paramount+, Showtime OTT and Pluto TV). It also has a dedicated international division that manages international versions of its pay TV networks, as well as region-specific assets including Argentina’s Telefe, Chile’s Chilevisión, the United Kingdom’s Channel 5, Australia’s Network 10 and a 30% stake in the Rainbow S.p.A. studio in Italy.[7]
As of 2019, the company operates over 170 networks and reaches approximately 700 million subscribers in 180 countries.[8]