CBS Highlights TV Dominance, 17-Year Streak On Top: Can Success Help Offset Trump, Merger Concerns?

Media network CBS has dominated the prime time ratings for more than a decade and helped boost the financials for Paramount Global PARAPARAA and subscribers for the company's Paramount+ streaming platform.

With concerns over a pending merger and pressure from President Donald Trump, could TV success offset a declining stock price?

What Happened: Paramount Global has a pending merger with Skydance Media. The merger has faced regulatory pressure and a fight from Trump to take away CBS's FCC broadcast license over past "60 Minutes" episodes could keep the stock from breaking out.

Paramount's CBS Television segment could be a bright spot and shows no signs of slowing down.

As reported by Variety, CBS chose to release its 2025-26 season schedule ahead of media company upfronts, which is when they show off their lineups and new content to advertisers.

Likely helping CBS's decision were several victory laps taken by George Cheeks and Amy Reisenbach over the network's streak of 17 consecutive years as the most-watched network. CBS also has eight of the top 10 most-watched series on television and 16 of the top 25 based on Nielsen data.

CBS has newer hit shows that include "Tracker" and "Matlock." These hit shows and originals have provided a boost to Paramount+, where CBS programs get around half of the total viewing on the platform, according to the report.

"The bottom line here is, our broadcast hits are becoming instant streaming hits," Cheeks said.

Producer Taylor Sheridan has spawned several hits for CBS, including the "Yellowstone" franchise and has more series in the works for CBS, adding more excitement to the company's lineup of returning programs.

"We made some very strategic scheduling moves that will reinforce the schedule that clinched us our 17 seasons at the most-watched network. This is a lineup that's going to be cohesive and has flow with compatible programming each night and throughout the week, and provides strong launch pads for all of our new series," Reisenbach added.

Why It's Important: The success of the television segment and a look ahead at what's to come comes as Trump has put pressure on CBS and "60 Minutes," an item that could delay or end the company's merger hopes with Skydance Media.

"This is a disruptive and challenging time for our industry," Cheeks said at the recent event, choosing not to answer questions outside of CBS programming.

"We have to focus on what we control, which is building an amazing schedule."

With the merger in limbo, shareholders face the decision of sticking things out for the combined company or the realization that a merger not going through could send shares lower and force the company to show valuation from the CBS assets on its own.

Paramount reported first-quarter revenue of $7.19 billion, beating Street consensus estimates. The company's television segment had revenue of $4.54 billion, beating estimates, while direct-to-consumer revenue of $2.04 billion came in shy of estimates from analysts.

The company's guidance suggests streaming could face tough comps going forward, putting more pressure on the television segment to continue to perform well and be the top-ranked network for the 19^th straight year.

PARA Price Action: Paramount stock closed at $11.95 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $9.54 to $13.40. Paramount stock is up 13% year-to-date, with shares down 8% over the last year.

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