Bob Bakish Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Paramount Global’s CFO said the company will take a $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion hit in the current first quarter mostly on content as it restructures its streaming business, absorbing Showtime into Paramount+.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Paramount Global is preparing to hike the monthly price of Paramount+ later this year, and the company disclosed its intent to take as much as a $1.5 billion write-down from the integration of Showtime with the streaming platform. Paramount Global chief financial officer Naveen Chopra unveiled the pricing plan details and plans for a $1.3 billion-$1.5 billion impairment charge as Showtime is blended into Paramount+ in the U.S. Paramount is aiming for $700 million in savings as Showtime and Paramount+ become one. Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish acknowledged in a conference call with Wall Street analysts on Thursday morning that the company hit big “headwinds” in 2022 and that 2023 will not be a robust year for profits. “We are at peak investment in 2023” in Paramount+, Bakish said.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Paramount surpassed 77 million streaming subscribers in Q4, adding 10 million to Paramount+ alone to reach nearly 56 million customers for that platform. In comparison, the paid streamer added 4.6 million subscribers in the third quarter, reaching nearly 67 million global direct-to-consumer customers overall for Paramount by the end of September. During the fourth quarter, Paramount Global’s SVOD launched splashy Taylor Sheridan titles “1923,” yet another a prequel to his hit Paramount Network series “Yellowstone,” and the Sylvester Stallone-led “Tulsa King,” as well as the “Criminal Minds” revival “Criminal Minds: Evolution” and the streaming debut of “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Paramount Global’s success in streaming is hurting its bottom line The New York owner of the CBS broadcast network and the Paramount movie studio said that the costs of generating gains in streaming crimped the conglomerate’s operating income and forced a swing to a loss in its fiscal fourth quarter, the latest of the nation’s big media companies to show some of the wear and tear that the shift to court viewers who stream is taking on the industry’s financials. The company said it added 9.9 million subscribers to its Paramount+ streaming hub in the period and saw a new cohort of users come to its free, ad-supporters streaming venue Pluto. But those gains could not overcome a 93% decline in operating income., or a 7% decline in revenue among the company’s biggest business, its traditional TV networks. Paramount Global said the company swung to a loss, compared with a sizable profit in the year-earlier period.

As Paramount Global prepares to report quarterly earnings Thursday, with CEO Bob Bakish presiding and Shari Redstone happily ensconced as non-executive chair, a new book is bringing forth some interesting (and at times lurid) revelations about the company’s tortuous journey.

Showtime will no longer be a standalone brand.

The streamlining of CBS Studios and Paramount Television Studios’ operations continues. Deborah Aquila, who heads casting for PTVS, will become the head of casting for both CBS Studios and Paramount TV Studios. She will add the responsibilities most recently held by CBS Studios EVP Casting Meg Liberman who announced her retirement earlier today.

Media ratings collective OpenAP, along with national programmers Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision, and Warner Bros. Discovery and the Video Advertising Bureau have formed a joint committee to push alternatives to Nielsen numbers.

Markus Dohle, the chief executive of Penguin Random House has announced his resignation after the world’s largest trade book publisher failed in its bid to acquire Simon & Schuster.

EXCLUSIVE: The expected alignment of CBS Studios, Paramount TV Studios and the Paramount+ scripted originals team is happening, and it is resulting in staff cuts. The latest round of Paramount Global layoffs is impacting under 30 people, I hear, all on the West Coast. According to sources, the majority of them are at CBS Studios and Paramount TV Studios, with handful of employees at CBS also let go.

EXCLUSIVE: Layoffs are under way at Paramount Global, with several dozen employees expected to leave the company today, insiders have confirmed to Deadline.

The restructuring of Paramount Global’s TV operations continues with another realignment of the company’s linear cable networks. VH1 will move into the BET Media Group, which includes BET, BET+, BET Her, BET Studios and BET Digital and is run by BET CEO Scott Mills. The announcement was made by Paramount Global President and CEO Bob Bakish in a company memo, a copy of which was obtained by Deadline.

Paramount Global is planning for “meaningful and sizeable” cost cuts in the coming months as it looks to balance streaming investments with declining pay-TV operations.

Three weeks after the exit of David Nevins left a hole in the oversight of Paramount+ scripted originals, the void is yet to be filled. However, chatter about a restructuring of the operations along the lines laid out in Deadline’s piece on the day of Nevins’ departure announcement has been gaining momentum.

The departure today of David Nevins as Chairman and CEO, Paramount Premium Group and Chief Creative Officer, Paramount+ Scripted Series, as well as Paramount Global’s restructuring unveiled alongside it, created a lot anxiety in the operations impacted by Nevins’ exit.

In a fickle TV business where the top network posts rank at the bottom for job security, we lost two of the longest-tenured executives in just a couple of days, the CW Chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz, who stepped down Monday, and David Nevins, Chairman and CEO, Paramount Premium Group and Chief Creative Officer, Paramount+ Scripted Series, whose exit was announced today. Both were around the 12-year mark in their jobs.

Chris McCarthy, Tom Ryan and George Cheeks are all seeing their portfolios expand at Paramount Global after the departure of David Nevins.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Paramount Global has likely explored the idea of a bundled product that includes Showtime and Paramount+ with cable and satellite distributors, the company’s top executive said, as it continues to mull over the best way to package its various products for consumers. “We should have that conversation,” Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said during remarks at an investor conference held by Goldman Sachs. “It’s not like we have made a decision.” The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Paramount might consider discontinuing its Showtime streaming service, in favor of shifting its content to Paramount+. But Bakish suggested the company had not made a commitment to that model, even as it explores all kinds of bundles of its streaming assets. Paramount operates Paramount+ and Showtime, which both hinge on subscribers, and Pluto, which is free and ad-supported.

Paramount Global is making moves in its advertising division. Jo Ann Ross, a 30 year veteran of the company, has been named chairman of Paramount advertising – an advisory role, with John Halley assuming her previous role as President in the division. As part of Halley’s new role, he will report to Bob Bakish, president and chief executive officer of Paramount.“Jo Ann is a true trailblazer in our industry and a dominant force behind the success of CBS, ViacomCBS, and now Paramount Global,” Bakish said in a statement.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Jo Ann Ross, the TV industry’s first female ad-sales chief, will take a new chairman role at Paramount Global, while John Halley will take on the position of president, overseeing U.S. sales — a major transition at the media company that aims to merge Ross’ close contact with clients with Halley’s expertise in new forms of digital advertising. Halley will report directly to Paramount Global’s CEO, Bob Bakish, while Ross will “provide her expertise and experience in a strategic advisory role to ensure a smooth transition,” the company said in a statement. Ross has been a trailblazer in the TV industry, taking over ad sales for the former CBS Corp. after the departure of Joe Abruzzese in 2002, when he exited to join Discovery Communications. Since that time, Ross has formed one of the most durable ad-sales teams in TV, with executives like Chris Simon, John Bogusz, Linda Rene and Joe Mina staying with her for years. That team is expected to stay at the company at present, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Paramount Pictures chief Brian Robbins wants to boost the studio’s annual theatrical output to 12 to 15 releases, up from its current Covid-affected level of eight this year and 10 to 12 in 2023.

“The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert” will honor the late Foo Fighters drummer and stream live on Paramount+ in the U.S. and globally on Youtube on Friday, Sep.

Paramount+ will livestream the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert, honoring the late Foo Fighters drummer.

Good afternoon Insiders. We have truly entered holiday season but in TV and film Land things simply don’t slow down. I’m Max Goldbart and here’s your list of the week’s biggest headlines.

the continued loss of subscribers for the quarter for Netflix earlier this quarter, as well as the Peacock subscribers that stayed flat for the quarter.Though the studio didn’t provide specific viewership figures, it said that “Halo,” “1883,” “The Lost City,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” “Jackass Forever,” “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” and the UEFA Champions League generated strong acquisition and engagement as both domestic and international hours watched per household grew year-over-year. And on the earnings call, CEO Bob Bakish specifically touted “Halo” as a top driver globally for subscribers and acquisitions.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorEven Tom Cruise can’t fly past the costs of making great content.Despite seeing strong revenue gains from its streaming operations and from the success of the sequel to Cruise’s “Top Gun” in theaters, Paramount Global saw profit drop in its second fiscal quarter as it increased investment in new content while seeing decreases in advertising and affiliate fees at its main TV businesses.The owner of the CBS broadcast network, the Nickelodeon cable channel and the Paramount movie studio said operating income fell by 33% in the period, down to $819 million, compared with more than $1.2 billion in the year-earlier period. Revenue during the quarter increased 19% to nearly $7.8 billion, compared with nearly $6.6 billion a year earlier.

Paramount Global said Top Gun: Maverick powered a 126% surge in filmed entertainment revenue last quarter, surpassing Titanic to become the studio’s biggest domestic release of all time.

The mountains are as gorgeous as ever, the deal climate not so much as boutique investment bank Allen & Co. prepares to host its annual Sun Valley retreat. After guests arrive on Tuesday, official activities get under way Wednesday.

As reaction to the Supreme Court’s overturning of abortion rights in America sweeps the nation, Hollywood studios are focusing on the protection of employees’ access to health benefits, including travel. As of yet, they haven’t opined on the controversial decision by the conservative court.