After an intense, scandal-plagued acquisition, here's what David Ellison gets in Skydance's acquisition of Paramount Global.

With this week’s FCC approval, the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media is expected to be completed in the coming weeks at a value of $8 billion. The question for the new company is whether the psychic cost is much higher.

Paramount and Skydance have confirmed reports earlier this week that their long-gestating merger is expected to finally close on August 7.

South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone brought their show back with a vengeance on Wednesday, in an episode that took swings at both the parent company of the network that airs their popular animated series and President Donald Trump.

Upon the deal’s closing, Skydance and its financial partners are set inject $1.5 billion in cash into Paramount. However, that’s intended to go toward reducing Paramount’s long-term debt ($14.16 billion as of Q1 of 2025) to help stabilize its balance sheet.

When the FCC approved the Paramount-Skydance merger Thursday, one commissioner blasted the decision, calling it an act of “ cowardly capitulation ” on behalf of Paramount and warning that this could lead to a further “erosion of our First Amendment protections.”

Paramount’s cable business has cratered. The news division is in turmoil. A.I. is coming for movies. And those are just the obvious challenges facing David Ellison as he takes control.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr was asked to respond to criticisms of the Trump administration's intervention in the free press.