Free Republic

NEW YORK (AP) — Skydance and Paramount officially closed their $8 billion merger on Thursday — kicking off the reign of a new entertainment giant after a contentious, over year-long endeavor to get the transaction over the finish line. The new company — which will trade under the “PSKY” ticker on Wall Street — brings Paramount’s legacy Hollywood footprint, major TV networks like CBS and MTV, streaming services and more under the roof of a new power player: billionaire Skydance founder David Ellison. “Today marks an exciting and pivotal moment as we prepare to bring Paramount’s legacy as a Hollywood...

Protesters gathered in New York City to hold a “We’re With Colbert” rally on Sunday in support of the recently canned ” The Late Show” host. The rally was held outside of the CBS Broadcast Center on Manhattan‘s West Side, according to the New York Post. The outlet noted that only around 20 people showed up to the event, with most attendees — including the New York Police Department (NYPD) officers assigned to keep the peace — leaving shortly after it began. “Our country is not perfect, never has been,” the event organizer told the outlet. The event organizer went...

This week has demonstrated that the tech “broligarch” who’s most influenced President Donald Trump’s second administration isn’t Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, or Marc Andreessen—it’s Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, the 80-year-old software tycoon who recently became the second-richest man in the world. Just look at everything that’s gone his way. On Thursday evening, the Federal Communications Commission finally voted to approve Paramount’s $8.4 billion merger with fellow entertainment firm Skydance Media. The controversial, long-awaited deal only came about thanks to Paramount’s appeals to this administration: settling a baseless lawsuit that Trump brought against 60 Minutes for “deceptively” editing its Kamala Harris...

Stephen Colbert declared to Donald Trump that “the gloves are off” in his first broadcast since his Late Show was cancelled amid a political firestorm, as his fellow hosts lined up to defend him with Jon Stewart scathingly denouncing Paramount for trying to “censor and control” its hosts. Colbert, the top-rated late-night talk show host in the US, said last week on his CBS show Late Night – which he took over from David Letterman in 2015 – that Paramount’s decision to pay a $16m settlement to Trump over another flagship CBS show, 60 Minutes, amounted to a “big fat...

Jon Stewart does not sound like he is losing sleep over “The Daily Show” potentially being canceled if Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount is approved. Stewart, on the Thursday episode of his “The Weekly Show” podcast, was asked if he is concerned the deal would spell the end of the long-running comedy program, in part because of his recent criticism of Paramount and President Donald Trump. The 62-year-old comedian said he is not worried about it. “You know, unfortunately, we haven’t heard anything from [Paramount or Skydance]. They haven’t called me and said like, ‘Don’t get too comfortable in that office.’”...

Last week, 60 Minutes’ executive producer Bill Owens resigned in protest — but Owens and the rest of the news program have never taken responsibility for their own corruption.Last week, Bill Owens, the executive producer of CBS’ flagship news program 60 Minutes, resigned, “citing encroachments on his journalistic independence,” per The New York Times. In the first show since the news of Owens’ resignation broke, 60 Minutes ended the program with a glowing, if dubious, tribute to Owens that has since gone viral online. The program took the unusual step of alleging unethical behavior by CBS’ corporate parent Paramount for...