Paramount Global/Skydance merger - Deadline: CBS Boss George Cheeks Admits It’s A “Challenging” Time In TV & For Paramount, But That Didn’t Impact Its Schedule

Story from Deadline:

CBS has been in the news for all sorts of reasons lately, including legal battles with the President of the United States and issues around its news gem 60 Minutes.

But all of this disruption has not had any material impact on its 2025/26 schedule, which the network revealed today.

CBS President and CEO George Cheeks said it was an “unprecedented, challenging time for the industry and for our company in particular”.

“What’s most important as a leader is how you show up in a difficult time. I think my biggest goal is to make sure that the team feels supported, and that we recognize that we have to focus on what we can control, which is building an amazing schedule like Amy and her team are doing, and just really sort of locking arms and saying, ‘We are a team. We’re family. We’re gonna get through this together’,” he said.

The former NBCUniversal exec said that the schedule has not been impacted by all of the noise around Paramount.

“What’s great for us is that in spite of all the disruption, we continue year over year again to have a really strong schedule, and it allows us to make, as Amy said, some really difficult decisions, but to create an optimal schedule. That’s what we do, and that was our focus the whole time, the whole process,” he added.

CBS owner Paramount is currently waiting on its takeover by Skydance and there are only a handful of days left on FCC’s 180-day “shot clock” for the transaction, an informal timeline for the agency to review mergers. FCC chairman Brendan Carr referenced the timing during a press conference last week.

Carr insisted that the regulatory review, which is crucial when transfer of broadcast licenses is involved — like is the case with Paramount as owner of CBS — is not connected to other ongoing Paramount-related matters, including a potential settlement in President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over its 60 Minutes Kamala Harris interview.

Cheeks’ comments come as Skydance paused new spending on 9/12, a new drama series starring and executive produced by Jeremy Strong and written and executive produced by Tobias Lindholm and Frank Pugliese.

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