Skydance's merger with Paramount Global wins FCC's approval
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The buyers made written promises to ensure that the new company's programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum, Carr said. Paramount agreed to employee an ombudsman for two years to evaluate complaints of bias, Carr said.
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The company also committed to ending diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. That will ensure 'the combined business will enact policies and practices consistent with the law and the public interest,' Carr said.
CBS News announced that Tanya Simon, a journalist and producer at '60 Minutes' for over two decades, would be the program's next executive producer, taking over during a period of turmoil at the network.
Simon succeeds Bill Owens, who announced his resignation in April after clashing with management. He said at the time that the company was infringing on his journalistic independence.
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The choice of Simon puts an end to concerns among the journalists who work on the show, the country's most-watched television news program, that the network would choose an outsider.
The show and its corporate owners have been at the center of intense scrutiny in recent months. Three weeks ago, Paramount, CBS News' parent company,
The lawsuit was filed as Redstone was in the midst of the deal to sell her company to Skydance. Some Democratic lawmakers have characterized the settlement as a bribe to get the merger approved.
Simon joined the staff of '60 Minutes' in 2000, and before her interim role had been the show's executive editor. She will be the fourth executive producer for the program since it began in 1968, and the first woman in the role.
'Tanya Simon understands what makes '60 Minutes' tick,' Tom Cibrowski, president and executive editor of CBS News, said in a statement. 'She is an innovative leader, an exceptional producer, and someone who knows how to inspire people.'
Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi, two of the program's correspondents, posted congratulatory messages on Instagram, writing, 'We're in good hands.'
Material from The New York Times was used in this story.
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North Carolina Senate race sets up as a fight over who would be a champion for the middle class
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Still, Cooper's opening message that he hears the worries of working families has given Democrats in North Carolina and beyond a sense that they can reclaim their place as the party that champions the middle class. They think it's a message that could help them pick up a Senate seat, and possibly more, in next year's midterm elections, which in recent years have typically favored the party out of power. 'I'm Roy Cooper. And I know that today, for too many Americans, the middle class feels like a distant dream,' the former governor said in a video announcing his candidacy. 'Meanwhile, the biggest corporations and the richest Americans have grabbed unimaginable wealth at your expense. It's time for that to change.' Cooper's plainspoken appeal may represent just the latest effort by Democrats to find their way back to power, but it has some thinking they've finally found their footing after last year's resounding losses. 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Paramount's (NASDAQ:PARA) Q2 Earnings Results: Revenue In Line With Expectations
Multinational media and entertainment corporation Paramount (NASDAQ:PARA) met Wall Street's revenue expectations in Q2 CY2025, but sales were flat year on year at $6.85 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.46 per share was 24.6% above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy Paramount? Find out in our full research report. Paramount (PARA) Q2 CY2025 Highlights: Revenue: $6.85 billion vs analyst estimates of $6.86 billion (flat year on year, in line) Adjusted EPS: $0.46 vs analyst estimates of $0.37 (24.6% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $824 million vs analyst estimates of $749.8 million (12% margin, 9.9% beat) Operating Margin: 5.8%, up from -78.1% in the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow Margin: 1.7%, up from 0.1% in the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $8.74 billion Company Overview Owner of Spongebob Squarepants and formerly known as ViacomCBS, Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) is a major media conglomerate offering television, film production, and digital content across various global platforms. Revenue Growth A company's long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Even a bad business can shine for one or two quarters, but a top-tier one grows for years. Unfortunately, Paramount's 2.3% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was weak. This was below our standards and is a rough starting point for our analysis. Long-term growth is the most important, but within consumer discretionary, product cycles are short and revenue can be hit-driven due to rapidly changing trends and consumer preferences. Paramount's performance shows it grew in the past but relinquished its gains over the last two years, as its revenue fell by 2% annually. We can better understand the company's revenue dynamics by analyzing its three most important segments: TV Media, Direct-to-Consumer, and Filmed Entertainment, which are 58.6%, 31.5%, and 10.1% of revenue. Over the last two years, Paramount's TV Media revenue (broadcasting) averaged year-on-year declines of 8.1%. On the other hand, its Direct-to-Consumer revenue (streaming) averaged year-on-year growth of 0.8% while its Direct-to-Consumer revenue (streaming) was flat. This quarter, Paramount's $6.85 billion of revenue was flat year on year and in line with Wall Street's estimates. Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to decline by 1.7% over the next 12 months, similar to its two-year rate. This projection doesn't excite us and suggests its newer products and services will not accelerate its top-line performance yet. Unless you've been living under a rock, it should be obvious by now that generative AI is going to have a huge impact on how large corporations do business. While Nvidia and AMD are trading close to all-time highs, we prefer a lesser-known (but still profitable) stock benefiting from the rise of AI. Click here to access our free report one of our favorites growth stories. Operating Margin Paramount's operating margin has risen over the last 12 months, but it still averaged negative 5.7% over the last two years. This is due to its large expense base and inefficient cost structure. In Q2, Paramount generated an operating margin profit margin of 5.8%, up 83.9 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development and shows it was more efficient. Earnings Per Share We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company's growth is profitable. Sadly for Paramount, its EPS declined by 23.5% annually over the last five years while its revenue grew by 2.3%. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded. In Q2, Paramount reported adjusted EPS at $0.46, down from $0.54 in the same quarter last year. Despite falling year on year, this print easily cleared analysts' estimates. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Paramount's full-year EPS of $1.13 to grow 19.2%. Key Takeaways from Paramount's Q2 Results We enjoyed seeing Paramount beat analysts' EPS expectations this quarter. We were also happy its EBITDA outperformed Wall Street's estimates. On the other hand, its Direct-to-Consumer revenue missed. Overall, we think this was still a solid quarter with some key areas of upside. The stock remained flat at $12.50 immediately following the results. So should you invest in Paramount right now? We think that the latest quarter is just one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it's free. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
