Stuck in the middle

7 January 2021 By Jennifer Saba Follow @jennifersaba

The $22 bln media group is selling Simon & Schuster. Boss Bob Bakish should keep the M&A book open. Disney’s streaming success is turning the screws on rivals with less content and scale. Despite recently reuniting two companies, ViacomCBS needs to be either bigger or smaller.

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ViacomCBS on Jan. 4 said it struck an agreement under which streaming service Hulu will distribute an additional 14 of its networks including MTV and Nickelodeon. The financial terms of the multi-year carriage deal, which also includes the continued distribution of CBS and Showtime, were not disclosed. Hulu is owned by Walt Disney.

ViacomCBS said in September that it will relaunch its streaming service, CBS All Access, as Paramount+ in early 2021.

CBS and Viacom merged on Dec. 4, 2019 to become ViacomCBS. The media company is controlled by the Redstone family.

Separately, MGM, the film studio behind the James Bond franchise, is exploring a sale, Reuters reported on Dec. 21 citing people familiar with the matter. The company could be worth $5.5 billion including debt, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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ViacomCBS said in September that it will relaunch its streaming service, CBS All Access, as Paramount+ in early 2021.

CBS and Viacom merged on Dec. 4, 2019 to become ViacomCBS. The media company is controlled by the Redstone family.

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