New York City honored late media titan Sumner Redstone by renaming a segment of West 44th Street outside Paramount Global headquarters as Sumner Redstone Way. City Council Member Erik Bottcher joined Paramount Co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins as well as Redstone’s daughter, Paramount Chair Shari Redstone for a Times Square ceremony Wednesday. The city said it made the move as a salute to Redstone’s “distinguished leadership contributions to the media and entertainment industry over many decades, as well as his fierce dedication to civic and community affairs.
” Redstone died in 2020 at age 97. The self-made businessman, philanthropist, and World War II veteran built a media empire out of a small Boston movie theater circuit, turning Viacom into a global powerhouse. In 2019, it merged with CBS Corp.
and was later renamed Paramount Global, reflecting the brand clout of the movie studio Redstone acquired after a memorable battle with Barry Diller. Paramount Global over the summer sealed a merger deal with Skydance Media, which the companies expect to close in the first half of 2025. While Skydance chief David Ellison and his backers have vowed to keep the movie studio and other components of Paramount intact, the merger signals the end of the decades-long run for the Redstones.
“My father was one of the great champions of the media industry,” Shari Redstone, also CEO of the Redstone Family Foundation, said in a press release. “By taking smart .