New York — A company that controls CBS and Viacom wants the two New York media companies to combine again, more than a decade after they went their separate ways.

National Amusements, which owns most of the voting shares of the two companies, sent a letter to CBS and Viacom board members Thursday saying that a tie-up would help it better compete in a rapidly changing media industry. Nation Amusements is a movie theater operator run by Viacom's founder Sumner Redstone, who oversaw the split of CBS and Viacom in 2006.

Much has changed in that decade. More people are choosing to stream TV shows or movies online on Netflix, Hulu and other services.

CBS Corp. produces TV shows and owns its namesake network. Viacom Inc. owns cable channels MTV, Nickelodeon and VH1.