Consumers should expect the combined company to build out its existing subscription and free streaming video businesses, such as CBS All Access and Viacom’s Pluto TV, as it seeks to find its place in the rapidly consolidating media universe.
The two companies are controlled by National Amusements Inc, the holding company owned by billionaire Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari. Sumner Redstone split the company in 2006, aiming to unlock the value of the once fast-growing cable networks business in Viacom from the cash generating television business in CBS, while resolving the management issue of who would take over the company.
But in an era of cord-cutting and the rise of subscription video services such as Netflix, CBS and Viacom are now considered too small to compete against the likes of Walt Disney Co, which is launching a streaming video service later this year, AT&T Inc, which will also launch a new service by early next year, and bigger tech companies including Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc.This is CBS’s third attempt since 2016 to bring the U.S. entertainment companies together.