Paramount Global Clinches Cable Carriage Deal with Comcast as Acquisition Rumors Swirl

Shari Redstone’s Paramount Global is seen as having reached a grow-or-sell crossroads that has the potential to set other transactions in motion — the pinball effect when one sizable company puts the “For Sale” sign out. (For the record, neither Paramount Global nor Redstone’s National Amusements holding company has commented publicly on the matter.) The wave of speculation about the future of Paramount comes as the entertainment industry is working through a massive transition when it comes to the way movies and TV shows are produced, distributed and monetized.

Diego Ramos Bechara editor Paramount Global has chosen the nine writers who will participate in the Paramount Writers Mentoring Program for 2024-2025. Selected in the program’s 20th year are Jamil Akim O’Quinn, Wei Ling Chang, Adrian Colón Jr., Jai Franklin Sarki, Seth Harrington, Natalie Higdon, writing team Dijorn Moss & Trinea Moss and Nick Spates.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy-nominated Yellowjackets executive producer Drew Comins has signed a first-look deal with film and TV studio Fifth Season for his Creative Engine Entertainment production company. Under the pact with the indie studio, run by co-CEOs Graham Taylor and Chris Rice, Creative Engine will continue to develop talent-driven original series for streaming platforms and premium cable outlets, which Comins will be executive producing.

It's no secret that Michelle Keegan has had an extremely good start to the year.The 36 year old - who first found fame back in 2008 when she was cast as Tina McIntyre in the ITV soap Coronation Street - has just starred in the major Netflix thriller, Fool Me Once. In the drama, Michelle plays Maya Stern, a mother who is "trying to come to terms with the brutal murder of her husband, Joe." However, while grieving for Joe, "Maya installs a nanny-cam to keep an eye on her young daughter", and is "shocked to see her husband in her house." Upon release, Michelle's performance received instant critical acclaim, and the star herself has since shared how "overwhelmed" she's been with the response.

DirecTV and major station group Tegna have struck a carriage deal, ending a programming blackout that began November 30 and affected roughly 5 million customers across the U.S..

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Attending the Consumer Electronics Show is an eye-opening experience that offers intriguing glimpses into the future and an overwhelming amount of information about how the media, entertainment and tech industries are evolving in the present day. For the past decade, Variety has partnered with the Consumer Technology Association to help Hollywood players navigate a fast-changing marketplace with an entertainment business-focused track of programming at the big show.

Earlier this week, news broke that Tom Cruise signed a film deal with Warner Bros. to produce and star in movies for the studio. But what does Cruise’s new deal really mean? It’s not an exclusive deal, and Cruise has a couple of titles to finish making, including the upcoming sequel to “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning,” before he pivots to WBD.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram, dubbed the “queen of Arab pop” by Spotify, has inked a publishing deal with U.S. indie music company Reservoir Media and PopArabia, its Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region partner.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Skydance Media and Paramount Global‘s controlling shareholder are engaged in talks that could fold the home of CBS, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central into a new entity controlled by the people who produce starry Hollywood franchises such as “Mission Impossible” and “Tranformers.” Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount’s corporate parent, National Amusements Inc., is in early discussions with a consortium of investors led by Skydance founder David Ellison,. (above, pictured), according to a person familiar with the matter.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Roku Channel has cut a deal with actor B.J. Novak‘s ChainFest to air an hourlong special about the food festival that celebrates the culinary creations of chain restaurants. Novak and chef Tim Hollingsworth created what is billed as an “immersive dining experience” that celebrates the pleasures of fast food and fast casual chain restaurants such as Chili’s, Panda Express, Pizza Hut, Red Robin and more.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Seth Rogen‘s production company Point Grey Pictures is teaming up with the studio that backed its raunchy, R-rated hits like “Neighbors,” “Good Boys” and “Blockers.” Universal Pictures has forged a first-look film partnership with Point Grey Pictures, the company that Rogen co-founded with Evan Goldberg in 2011. James Weaver, a longtime producing partner, is the president of Point Grey, which is named after the Vancouver secondary school where Rogen and Goldberg first met.

The Traitors is back on our screens after the first series in 2022 left the whole country captivated.The show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, sees The Traitors 'murder' The Faithfuls who they believe are a threat to them in a bid to steal the £120,000 prize pot earned from the daily team missions. Every evening, the whole group has a round table discussion where they vote to 'banish' who they think is a Traitor, and the participant who is chosen reveals if they are Traitor or Faithful.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor As Hollywood tries to get its arms around the potential uses of generative AI, a Detroit-based tech firm has quietly spent the past few years building a video AI platform that can create ready-to-air TV commercials in a matter of minutes. Waymark has signed a broad pact with E.W. Scripps Co.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA signed a deal on Tuesday with an AI voiceover studio that sets terms for the use of artificial intelligence in video games. The union announced the deal with Replica Studios on Tuesday at CES in Las Vegas. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s executive director, said that the terms include informed consent for the use of AI to create digital voice replicas, as well as requirements for the safe storage of digital assets.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios has signed an exclusive first-look series and film deal with Emmy-winning director Nneka Onuorah.

Kevin Negandhi will continue to be a presence on ESPN. The anchor and studio host has signed a new multi-year contract with the network in which he’ll continue to host weekday SportsCenter, as well as Special Olympics and ABC’s coverage of college football and the NBA draft.

Editor’s note: Underplayed in the media intrigue over the prospect of Warner Bros swallowing Shari Redstone’s empire that includes Paramount and CBS is the gloomy reality that another storied Hollywood studio could go the way of Fox. That went from a vibrant multi-faceted creative content-generating enterprise to a headstone, when Rupert Murdoch decided to cash out for Disney stock. David Zaslav spent 2023 kicking employees and finished films to the curb to pay down debt just to get this far; chances are more blood will spill down Melrose if Redstone sells some or all the pieces of Paramount to be mashed into an existing studio. When Bill Mechanic was perched atop Paramount, Disney and Fox, he built Disney’s home video from a $30 million to $3 billion business, and found ways to take risks and squeeze max returns from blockbusters from Braveheart to Titanic, Independence Day and many others. Who better to remind Hollywood that once a major studio dies, it never comes back, and that there might be better ways to squeeze better performance out of an established creative business with global pipelines?

Disney Co. made a strategic move amid its proxy battle with Nelson Peltz by inking an “information sharing” deal with activist investor ValueAct Capital.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Shecky Greene, the legendary standup comedian known for his long tenure as a Las Vegas headliner and for working with Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, died Dec. 31 at his home, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

New York Times, Vayntrub, 36, recalled Courtney, 53, reaching out to her in the summer of 2020 when she started reappearing in AT&T’s ads for the first time since 2017. Upon her comeback, social media users started referring to Vayntrub as “Mommy Milkers” due to her breasts, she remembers.