 Logo used from 2006 to 2019 | |
 Headquarters at theCBS Building inNew York City | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mass media |
| Predecessor |
|
| Founded | November 30, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-11-30) (first incarnation) December 31, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-12-31) (second incarnation) |
| Defunct | April 15, 2000; 25 years ago (2000-04-15) (first incarnation) December 4, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-12-04) (second incarnation) |
| Fate |
|
| Successor | Viacom (first incarnation) Paramount Global (second incarnation) |
| Headquarters |
|
Area served | Worldwide, with main operations in theUnited States andAustralia |
Key people |
|
| Products | Movie production,TV production,broadcasting,cable television,record label,publishing,Internet |
| Revenue |  US$ 14.514 billion (2018) |
 US$ 2.768 billion (2018) | |
| US$ 1.960 billion (2018) | |
| Total assets | US$ 21.86 billion (2018) |
| Total equity | US$ 2.80 billion (2018) |
| Owner | National Amusements (80% voting power) |
Number of employees | ~12,700 (2017) |
| Divisions | CBS Entertainment Group CBS Cable Networks CBS Publishing CBS Local Media CBS Productions CBS Experiences[1] |
| Subsidiaries | CBS CBS News CBS Sports CBS Films CBS Interactive CBS Records CBS Sports Network CBS Television Distribution CBS Television Studios Showtime Networks Simon & Schuster TV Guide (digital assets) The CW (50%) Pop TV |
| Website | www.cbscorporation.com (archived Dec 4, 2019) |
| Footnotes / references Financials as of December 31, 2017[update].[note 1][2] | |
CBS Corporation was an Americanmultinationalmedia company with interests primarily incommercial broadcasting,publishing andtelevisionproduction. The first incarnation of the company was formed on November 30, 1997 after theWestinghouse Electric Corporation was renamed as CBS Corporation, and merged with Viacom on April 15, 2000. The second incarnation was formed after it wassplit fromViacom on December 31, 2005, alongsidean entirely new Viacom; both the second CBS Corporation and the second Viacom were controlled byNational Amusements, a theater company owned by billionaireSumner Redstone.[3]
CBS Corporation comprised the over-the-airtelevision broadcasting (CBS andThe CW (50% withWarner Bros. Entertainment)),television production anddistribution,publishing,pay-cable, andrecording assets that were previously owned by the first Viacom. It was the world's eighth largest entertainment company in terms of revenue and headquartered at theCBS Building inMidtown Manhattan, New York City.[4]
CBS Corporation announced on August 13, 2019, that it wouldmerge with Viacom for the second time to formViacomCBS (now known asParamount Skydance).[5] The merger was completed on December 4.[6][7]
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1886 | Westinghouse Electric Corporation is founded as Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company |
| 1912 | Famous Players Film Company is founded |
| 1913 | Lasky Feature Play Company is founded |
| 1914 | Paramount Pictures is founded |
| 1916 | Famous Players and Lasky merge asFamous Players–Lasky and acquire Paramount |
| 1927 | Famous Players–Lasky is renamed to Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation;CBS is founded with investment fromColumbia Records |
| 1929 | Paramount acquires 49% of CBS |
| 1930 | Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation is renamed to Paramount Publix Corporation |
| 1932 | Paramount sells back its shares of CBS |
| 1934 | Gulf+Western is founded as the Michigan Bumper Corporation |
| 1935 | Paramount Publix Corporation is renamed to Paramount Pictures |
| 1936 | National Amusements is founded as Northeast Theater Corporation |
| 1938 | CBS acquires Columbia Records |
| 1950 | Desilu is founded and CBS distributes its television programs |
| 1952 | CBS creates the CBS Television Film Sales division |
| 1958 | CBS Television Film Sales is renamed to CBS Films |
| 1966 | Gulf+Western acquires Paramount |
| 1967 | Gulf+Western acquires Desilu and renames itParamount Television (nowCBS Studios) |
| 1968 | CBS Films is renamed to CBS Enterprises |
| 1970 | CBS Enterprises is renamed toViacom |
| 1971 | Viacom is spun off from CBS |
| 1987 | National Amusements acquires Viacom |
| 1988 | CBS sells Columbia Records toSony |
| 1989 | Gulf+Western is renamed toParamount Communications |
| 1994 | Viacom acquires Paramount Communications |
| 1995 | Paramount Television andUnited Television launchUPN; Westinghouse acquires CBS |
| 1997 | Westinghouse is renamed toCBS Corporation |
| 2000 | Viacom acquires UPN and CBS Corporation |
| 2005 | Viacomsplits into the secondCBS Corporation andViacom |
| 2006 | Skydance Media is founded as Skydance Productions; CBS Corporationshuts down UPN and replaces it withThe CW |
| 2009 | Paramount and Skydance enter an agreement to co-produce and co-finance films |
| 2017 | CBS Corporation sellsCBS Radio to Entercom (nowAudacy) |
| 2019 | CBS Corporation and Viacomre-merge as ViacomCBS |
| 2022 | ViacomCBS is renamed toParamount Global |
| 2025 | Skydance acquires National Amusements andmerges with Paramount Global asParamount Skydance |
Thefirst incarnation of Viacom was created in 1952 as the televisionsyndication division ofCBS and was spun off in 1971. In late 1994, in a major change of direction,Westinghouse acquired the CBS television network and renamed itself CBS Corporation. Most of its remaining industrial businesses were sold off at this time. CBS Corporation was acquired by the first incarnation of Viacom in April 2000.[8] The prior CBS Corporation also ownedCMT andThe Nashville Network (TNN), which remained Viacom properties afterthe 2005 split, but the prior CBS did not ownUPN,Showtime,Paramount Television,Paramount Parks, orSimon & Schuster.
In March 2005, Viacom contemplated splitting the company into two publicly traded companies, amid issues of the stock price stagnating and clashing corporate cultures between the cable and broadcast divisions, which came to a head with theSuper Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy a year previous with theMTV-produced show causing controversy for game broadcaster CBS.
On June 14, 2005, the Viacom board of directors approved the split of the company into two firms.[9] The CBS Corporation name would be revived for one of the companies, to be headed by longtime television executive (and Viacom co-president)Les Moonves, and would include the namesake television network CBS,UPN,Infinity Broadcasting Corporation,Viacom Outdoor,Showtime Networks, andParamount Television.
The split was structured such thatthe second Viacom was spun off from the first Viacom, which was renamed CBS Corporation. In a sense, this was a repeat of the 1971 spin-off. However, in this case, CBS retained virtually all of the prior firm's broadcast television assets, including its various syndication companies.
With the split, the two companies began trading on theNew York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbols "CBS.A" and "CBS" (the latter symbol was previously used by CBS, Inc. as an independent company prior to its 1994 acquisition by Westinghouse) on January 2, 2006. Investors anticipated Viacom benefiting from the split, but instead, it dropped approximately 20%, while CBS Corporation rose 9%, that same year,Paramount Parks became a wholly owned theme park unit of CBS Corporation.[10]
In January 2006, CBS andDIC Entertainment signed a multi-year deal in which DIC bought the Saturday morning airtime as "CBS's Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party". In June 2006, DiC added a production partner AOL's KOL. Thus, this block would be called "KOL's Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party on CBS".[11]
On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation andTime Warner created a new broadcast network,The CW. The network officially debuted on September 18, 2006. The CW formally debuted on September 20 with the 2-hour premiere ofAmerica's Next Top Model. The CW is the result of a merger ofThe WB (a Warner Bros. holding) and UPN (a CBS Corporation holding). CBS Corporation andTime Warner each owned 50% of The CW.Tribune Broadcasting (which previously owned a 25% stake on The WB) andCBS Television Stations contributed its stations as new network affiliates.
On May 23, 2006, CBS Corporation sold Paramount Parks to theCedar Fair Entertainment Company. With this acquisition, Cedar Fair became the third-largest theme park operator.[12] On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair completed its acquisition of Paramount Parks from CBS Corporation in a cash transaction valued at US$1.24 billion. The transaction included a 10-year license that allowed Cedar Fair to use the Paramount name in the parks through the 2017 season.[13]
On February 7, 2007, CBS sold seven smaller-market stations inProvidence, Rhode Island,Austin, Texas,Salt Lake City, andWest Palm Beach, Florida toCerberus Capital Management for US$185 million.[14] It sold another station,WFRV-TV inGreen Bay, Wisconsin, and its satellite station,WJMN-TV inEscanaba, Michigan, toLiberty Media on February 13, 2007.[15] News reports estimate the deal at about US$234 million. CBS is swapping the stations and US$170 million in cash for 7.59 million shares of CBS common stock held by Liberty Media.
On February 26, 2007, CBS began investing in Electric Sheep, which is a virtual world content developer. CBS hired Electric Sheep to develop some projects, including the creation of "The L-Word in Second Life". CBS also shot a commercial within the virtual worldSecond Life to promote its showTwo and a Half Men. Another project that Electric Sheep was working on for CBS was aStar Trek-themed area in Second Life. By investing in Electric Sheep, CBS hoped to expand its activity "beyond the living room".[16] On March 20, CBS/CSTV had acquiredMaxPreps, an online high school sports network.[17] On April 12, CBS Corporation created the CBS Interactive Audience Network.[18] On May 30, 2007,CBS Interactive boughtLast.fm for £140 million.[19]
On May 15, 2008, CBS Interactive agreed to buyCNET Networks for $1.8 billion, with the deal due to close in the third quarter of 2008.[20] On July 2 CBS acquired CNET and put it underCBS Interactive.[21]
On February 14, 2013, CBS acquired a minority stake inAXS TV in exchange for programming and marketing.[22] On March 26, CBS and Lionsgate entered a 50/50 joint venture to operate theTV Guide Network (TVGN) and TVGuide.com.[23][24] On May 31, CBS bought the remaining half of TV Guide Digital fromLionsgate.[25] The latter still retained its share of TVGN (later rebranded as Pop) until it was acquired by CBS on March 12, 2019.[26] On July 16, CBS agreed to sell CBS Outdoor International to Platinum Equity for about $225 million.[27] The CBS Outdoor division began trading as a separate company on the NYSE under "CBSO" on March 28, 2014. CBS Outdoor would be fully divested from CBS by July into an independent real estate investment trust, renamed asOutfront Media.
On November 17, 2017, CBS Corporation soldCBS Radio toEntercom, making that company the second-largest owner of radio stations in the United States.[28][29]In the same year, CBS purchased Australian broadcasterNetwork 10. The network was previously in voluntaryadministration.[30]
As of November 2018, CBS Corporation ranked 197th on theFortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.[31] CBS Corp. sold Television City to Los Angeles real estate investment company Hackman Capital Partners for $750 million in a deal finalized in mid-December 2018. The deal gives the buyer the right to use the Television City name. Programs produced at Television City will continue to be based there as will CBS' international unit headquarters.[32]
On September 29, 2016,National Amusements sent a letter to CBS Corporation and Viacom, encouraging the two companies to merge back into one company.[33] On December 12, the deal was called off.[34]
On January 12, 2018,CNBC reported that Viacom had re-entered talks to merge back into CBS Corporation, afterAT&T's purchase of Time Warner was planned andDisney's plan toacquire bulk of21st Century Fox assets and the heavy competition from companies such asNetflix andAmazon.[35] Shortly afterward, it was reported that the combined company could be a suitor for acquiring the film studio Lionsgate (which handled US distribution and global sales forCBS Films).[36][37] A re-merger could benefit CBS's streaming serviceCBS All Access, as it could potentially have access to content from core Viacom brands such asComedy Central,MTV, andNickelodeon, as well as theParamount Pictures library. Viacom's international presence could also benefit distribution.[38]
On March 30, 2018, CBS made an all-stock offer slightly below Viacom's market value and insisting that its existing leadership, including long-time chairman and CEO Les Moonves, oversee the re-combined company. Viacom rejected the offer as being too low, requesting an increase by $2.8 billion, and requesting thatBob Bakish be maintained as president and COO under Moonves. It was reported these conflicts had resulted fromShari Redstone seeking more control over CBS and its leadership.[39][40]
Eventually, on May 14, 2018, CBS Corporation sued National Amusements and accused Shari Redstone of abusing her voting power andforcing a merger that was not supported by it or Viacom.[41][42] CBS also accused Redstone of discouragingVerizon Communications from acquiring it, which could have been beneficial to its shareholders.[43]
On May 23, 2018, Les Moonves stated that he considered the Viacom channels to be an "albatross," and while he favored more content forCBS All Access (now Paramount+), he believed that there were better deals for CBS than the Viacom deal, such asMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate orSony Pictures. Moonves also considered Bakish a threat as he never wanted an ally of Shari Redstone as a board member of the combined company.[44] Following Moonves' resignation due to sexual harassment allegations, National Amusements agreed in September 2018 to defer any proposal of a CBS-Viacom merger for at least two years after the date of the settlement with former CEO Moonves, donating $20 million to groups supporting the#MeToo movement as result of his resign.[45][46][47]
On May 30, 2019, CNBC reported that CBS Corporation and Viacom would explore merger discussions in mid-June 2019. The company's board of directors was revamped with people who are open to a merger and the talks were made possible with the resignation of Moonves, who opposed all attempts for a Viacom merger. The talks had started following rumors of CBS acquiringStarz from Lionsgate.[48] Reports said that CBS and Viacom reportedly set August 8 as an informal deadline for reaching an agreement to recombine the two media companies.[49][50] As part of the re-merger deal, CBS acquired Viacom for up to $15.4 billion.[51]
On August 13, 2019, CBS and Viacom agreed to merge into a new entity known as ViacomCBS (nowParamount Global), with Viacom CEO Bob Bakish as president and CEO of the new company and CBS CEO Ianniello as chairman and CEO of CBS and oversee CBS-branded assets. Shari Redstone will also serve as chairwoman of ViacomCBS.[5][52] On October 29, 2019, National Amusements approved the re-merger deal, to be completed by early December 2019, with the recombined company trading onNasdaq under the symbol "VIAC" and "VIACA" after CBS delist its shares on the NYSE.[53] On December 4, the deal was completed, with the merger structured such that CBS Corporation absorbed Viacom and changed its name to ViacomCBS.[7][54]
Theboard of directors of CBS Corporation included:[55]
CBS said the company and Mr Moonves would donate $20m (£15.4m) to groups supporting the #MeToo movement.
Moonves and CBS will donate $20m to one or more organisations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace. This donation was deducted from any severance benefits that may be due to Moonves following the investigation.
CBS' plan to acquire Viacom for up to $15.4 billion could be announced Aug. 8, giving its controlling shareholder the ability to leverage IP like 'Star Trek' across film and TV to better compete with Disney, Netflix and the rest.
On December 4, 2019, Viacom Inc. ("Viacom") merged with and into CBS Corporation ("CBS"), with CBS continuing as the surviving company (the "Merger"), pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of August 13, 2019, as amended on October 16, 2019 (the "Merger Agreement"). At the effective time of the Merger, we changed our name to "ViacomCBS Inc."[permanent dead link]
Westinghouse | ||||||||||||||
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| Westinghouse Electric Corp. (1886–2000) |
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