Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount)[1] is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation operated and owned by theater company National Amusements and headquartered at the One Astor Plaza complex in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The company was formed through the re-merger of the second incarnation of CBS Corporation and the second incarnation of Viacom on December 4, 2019,[2] and was known as ViacomCBS before 2022. The company operates over 170 networks and reaches approximately 700 million subscribers in approximately 180 countries, as of 2019.[3]
The company's main properties include the namesake Paramount Pictures film and television studio, the CBS Entertainment Group, networks division (consisting of U.S.-based cable television networks including Nickelodeon), and the company's streaming services (including Paramount+, Showtime OTT, and Pluto TV). ViacomCBS announced its name change to Paramount Global on February 16, 2022, during the company's Q4 earnings presentation.[4]
On February 24, 2021, Paramount Global, then ViacomCBS, announced Avatar Studios, a new division of Nickelodeon centered on developing animated series and films set in the Avatar universe, to be distributed via Nickelodeon's linear and digital services, Paramount+, theatres, and other third-party platforms.[5]
Paramount Pictures[]
Paramount Pictures is an American film production and distribution company located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. Founded by Hungarian-born film producer Adolph Zukor in 1912, it is currently owned by media conglomerate Paramount Global. It is the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount is consistently ranked as one of the top-grossing movie studios.
In September 2020, ViacomCBS announced that it would rebrand the CBS All Access streaming service as Paramount+ to allow for international expansion using the widely-recognized Paramount name and drawing from the studio's library as well as that of CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, and more.[6]
On January 8, 2007, Paramount Pictures' MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies announced that they signed M. Night Shyamalan to write, direct, and produce a trilogy of live-action films based on the series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The film, titled The Last Airbender, was released on July 1, 2010.
Avatar Studios first project will be animated film focusing on Avatar Aang and his friends in their adult years,[7] under the working title "Aang: The Last Airbender".[8] In June 2022, it was announced that Lauren Montgomery, a former storyboard artist on Avatar and a supervising producer for Korra, would serve as director,[9] with the film set to be released theatrically by Paramount Pictures on January 20, 2026.[10]
Paramount+[]
Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by Paramount Streaming, a division of Paramount Global.[11] It offers original and library content from the CBS Entertainment Group and Paramount Media Networks broadcast properties, as well as the Paramount Pictures library. Originally launched as CBS All Access on October 28, 2014, the service was expanded and rebranded as Paramount+ on March 4, 2021, following the 2019 re-merger of CBS and Viacom. Paramount+ expanded to international markets, starting with Latin America and the already existing Canadian service, on the day it rebranded. Nordic countries followed on March 25 and Australia on August 11.
Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra were made available to stream on Paramount+ in 2021.[12][13][14]