Viacom-CBS merger expected to be completed in early December

The $30 billion merger between CBS and Viacom is expected to be closed in early December after being officially approved by National Amusements, the parent company owned by the Redstone family that controls each of the companies.

The approval by National Amusements “satisfies the closing conditions to the merger requiring approval of a majority of the CBS Class A shares and a majority of the Viacom Class A shares,” the company announced in a late Monday press release. 

{mosads}The two companies had previously been one entity before splitting in 2006.

Once the merger is finalized, CBS will be renamed ViacomCBS Inc.

Earlier this month, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the new company could launch a news channel, “conservative or otherwise,” to take on Fox News. Viacom denied that report.

“Viacom has no intention of launching a TV news channel, conservative or otherwise,” a Viacom spokesman said.

The Oct. 15 report also said that Shari Redstone, the daughter of Viacom patriarch Sumner Redstone, is exploring the possibility of rebranding an existing Viacom channel and has spoken to former Fox News host Megyn Kelly.

Shari Redstone’s spokesperson denied the report but confirmed that she had met with President Trump in recent weeks.

Fox News has dominated the cable news landscape, topping rivals MSNBC and CNN for 71 consecutive quarters, and it has had little ratings competition from right-leaning broadcast news outlets that include Newsmax TV, BlazeTV and One America News Network.