Skydance Media CEO David Ellison Makes Offer For Control Of Paramount Global

UPDATED: The companywide layoffs at Paramount Global on Tuesday impacted about 20 employees at CBS News, including correspondents Catherine Herridge and Jeff Pegues, several sources said.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Approximately 20 CBS News staffers were given termination notices Tuesday as a result of broader layoffs taking place across Paramount Global. The cuts extended across CBS News operations in Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, according to two people familiar with the matter, and included two of the news operation’s most prominent correspondents, Jeff Pegues and Catherine Herridge, these people said. A CBS News spokesperson did not respond immediately to a query seeking comment.

Paramount Global has begun a planned round of layoffs, telling U.S.-based employees that those affected by the cutbacks will be notified by the end of Tuesday.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Paramount Global, amid a swirl of M&A discussions, is laying off about 800 employees worldwide — an estimated 3% of its headcount — as it looks to trim costs. CEO Bob Bakish announced the layoffs in a memo Tuesday to staff that was obtained by Variety. According to the memo, U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: We are hearing that Apollo Global Management, who was mulling an offer for National Amusements, the Redstone family company that controls Paramount Global, is no longer considering that now.

Warners Bros has screened their axed Coyote vs. Acme to around 12 buyers we hear with a rigid buy price of $70M+; which is how much the animated live-action hybrid movie cost.

Maria Kyriacou, Paramount Global‘s President, Broadcast & Studios, International Markets, is exiting the U.S. studio after four years, as it prepares to slim down its international originals offering.

Wolf Pack, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, will not return to Paramount+ for a second season.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The CEO of Paramount Global urged staffers at the entertainment conglomerate to focus on their 2024 business goals, even as a handful of industry heavy hitters and investment firms explore a potential acquisition of the company and speculation about looming layoffs intensifies. In a memo issued to employees Thursday and reviewed by Variety, Bob Bakish acknowledged that Paramount’s future “remains a topic of speculation,” a nod to the fact that a group of investors led by Skydance founder David Ellison have engaged in talks with Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone.

Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said today the company will continue to reduce its global workforce “to operate as a leaner company and spend less.” But there were no further details in a memo to staff obtained by Deadline following a “Bob Live” town hall today.  

Prime Video has revealed that Season 3 of Reacher will be based on the book Persuader, the 7th book in the Jack Reacher series, written by Lee Child.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Amazon has confirmed which Lee Child book will serve as the basis for “Reacher” Season 3. The third season of the Prime Video series, which was announced in December, will be based on the book “Persuader.” That book is the seventh in the Jack Reacher series written by Child. The official logline for the season states, “Reacher must go undercover to rescue an informant held by a haunting foe from his past.” In addition, it is now confirmed that Maria Sten will return as Frances Neagley in the third season of the hit show, with Sten having appeared in both Seasons 1 & 2.

EXCLUSIVE: Amid speculation about its future, Paramount Global is proceeding with a new wave of staff reductions in February, sources tell Deadline. I hear the cuts will impact hundreds of employees across the entire company.

Harry Potter saga is at a “nascent” stage, with writers now being invited to pitch specific ideas to HBO Max.The news of a new TV version of J.K. Rowling’s series of books was confirmed by HBO Max last April, with reports that each of the seven books will get its own season.“Your Hogwarts letter is here,” a tweet from the streaming company read.

The Offer is the name of a series on Paramount+. Now, it could be the logline for Paramount Global.

Police in Indiana have finally confirmed the identity of a man who stabbed three young girls in a cornfield outside of Indianapolis nearly fifty years ago. On Thursday, the Indianapolis Metropoli

EXCLUSIVE: Domhnall Gleeson has joined the cast of Apple‘s Fountain of Youth, a feature film based on an original idea that will be directed by Guy Ritchie and hails from Skydance Media. Also starring John Krasinski and Natalie Portman, the film will be produced for Apple by Skydance, Vinson Films and Project X Entertainment.

Shari Redstone’s Paramount Global is seen as having reached a grow-or-sell crossroads that has the potential to set other transactions in motion — the pinball effect when one sizable company puts the “For Sale” sign out. (For the record, neither Paramount Global nor Redstone’s National Amusements holding company has commented publicly on the matter.) The wave of speculation about the future of Paramount comes as the entertainment industry is working through a massive transition when it comes to the way movies and TV shows are produced, distributed and monetized.

With its streaming operations facing scrutiny as 2024 gets under way, Paramount Global continues to pursue a diversified approach to distributing its flagship, Paramount+.

EXCLUSIVE: UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer is expected to hail the biggest selling film of 2023 being “made and recorded in Hertfordshire – not Hollywood” at a glitzy parliament reception hosted by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) tonight.