Us media giants CBS.US and VIA.US completed a merger on Wednesday, local time, reunifying the entertainment empire of media mogul Sumner Redstone, Zhitong Financial APP learned. The combined company, named Viacom CBS (Viacom CBS), will be controlled by National Amusements Inc, a holding company owned by Redstone and his daughter Sally.

The merger is understood to be the third attempt since 2016 and a decisive victory for Redstone, whose father created the two companies through a series of mergers but split them 13 years ago. The restructuring comes at a time of increasing competition in the media sector dominated by Walt Disney Company and NFLX.US, which also prompted Redstone to seek a merger.

Zhitong Finance has learned that when the new company merges CBS, CBS News and Showtime cable networks with MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Paramount film producers, they will have more than 140000 TV series and 3600 films.

It is estimated that the new company's annual revenue is about $28 billion.