ViacomCBS Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Joe Otterson TV ReporterParamount Plus is mining even more Nickelodeon content to fill out its content slate.The streamer announced a slew of new projects that will be produced by Nickelodeon and Nickelodeon Animation as part of the ViacomCBS investor day presentation on Feb. 15.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Yellowstone” prequel “1883” has been renewed for Season 2 at Paramount Plus, and the ViacomCBS-owned streaming service has ordered another Taylor Sheridan-created origin-story show following the Dutton Family called “1932.” Yes, you guessed it — the show will follow a new generation of Duttons “during the time of western expansion, Prohibition and the Great Depression.”“1883″ stars Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Billy Bob Thornton, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelsen and James Landry Hébert.The show follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. It is a stark retelling of western expansion and an intense study of one family fleeing poverty to seek a better future in America’s promised land — Montana.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA “Sonic the Hedgehog” series about Knuckles is in the works at Paramount Plus.The announcement was made as part of the ViacomCBS (now Paramount) investor day presentation.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaParamount Plus will be the exclusive streaming home for all Paramount Pictures movies beginning in 2024.The announcement, which was made at ViacomCBS’s investor day on Tuesday, is a sign of how much the media giant is investing in its streaming service. It means that the company will forgo lucrative and profitable short-term licensing revenue in order to grow its library of content and with it, build its subscriber base.

ViacomCBS President Bob Bakish announced today during the conglom’s investor day that all new Paramount theatrical releases will head straight to Paramount+ after their run in cinemas starting in 2024.

Master Chief will stay locked and loaded for Paramount+, which has renewed Halo for a second season. The renewal was unveiled during a ViacomCBS presentation on Tuesday.

ViacomCBS is rebranding to become Paramount Global, effective Feb. 16, the latest giant pivot in a rapidly transforming media and entertainment landscape. It’s the name of the company’s storied studio and its centerpiece streaming network Paramount+, which launched in March of 2021.

In one of the boldest efforts yet by a media company looking to enlarge its streaming subscriber base, ViacomCBS is combining Paramount+ and Showtime in a single, integrated offering.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Plus will begin integrating Showtime content this summer, launching an in-app upgrade that includes access to the pay TV channel’s programming, ViacomCBS announced during its Tuesday investor event.“So let’s talk about how we’re helping subscribers access even more of our amazing streaming services, right there in the Paramount Plus app,” Tom Ryan, president and chief executive officer of streaming at ViacomCBS, said during the virtual presentation, which covered the company’s fourth-quarter 2021 results and forward-looking goals for this year. “Our existing bundle, of Paramount Plus and Showtime, has performed very well out of the gate.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorViacomCBS will change its corporate name to Paramount as of Feb. 16, calling the move an effort to adopt “an iconic global name” to reflect the conglomerate’s increasingly worldwide focus.The company’s shares will trade on the NASDAQ index under the ticker symbol PARA (for Class B common shares), PARAA (for Class A common), and PARAP (for Class A preferred).The moniker makeover was announced Tuesday by ViacomCBS chair Shari Redstone and president-CEO Bob Bakish in a memo to staffers.

Yahoo Finance. ViacomCBS reported EPS of 26 cents on $8 billion in revenue.ViacomCBS ended 2021 with more than 56 million global SVOD subscribers.“Clifford the Big Red Dog” made $48.9 million domestically and $100 million worldwide, and was the most-watched original film for Paramount+ at time of release. The movie was released simultaneously in theaters and on Paramount+ in November.“In the fourth quarter you saw the power of strategy and strength of execution across the company.

nearly 47 million paid global subscribers combined. That was up from the 42 million worldwide subscribers that the company reported it had reached across Paramount+ and Showtime at the end of Q2.A year ago, ViacomCBS said it expects to reach 65-75 million global subscribers between Paramount+ and Showtime by 2024.Q4 saw Paramount+ release Taylor Sheridan’s new drama series “Mayor of Kingstown” starring Jeremy Renner and the fourth season of “Star Trek: Discovery” in November.

ViacomCBS badly missed Wall Street forecasts for earnings per share in the fourth quarter, but added a record 9.4 million streaming subscribers and smashes revenue projections.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Plus and Showtime topped a combined 56 million subscribers by the end of last year, ViacomCBS revealed Tuesday ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings presentation and investor event. That’s up 9.4 million from where it was in the previous quarter.At the end of Q3 of 2021, Paramount Plus (formerly CBS All Access) and Showtime OTT added 4.3 million global subscribers, raising their combined total to nearly 47 million.For comparison, HBO and HBO Max ended 2021 with 73.8 million global subscribers, Disney Plus closed the year with nearly 130 million worldwide, and Netflix reached 221.8 million total in Q4.ViacomCBS said last February it expects to reach 65-75 million global subscribers between Paramount Plus and Showtime by 2024.

The European heads of Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Paramount+ have talked up their autonomy from the U.S., with Amazon Studios Europe boss Georgia Brown stating: “In my head we’re a European streamer.”

Current and former employees of Phil McGraw’s talk show Dr. Phil made allegations of having experienced toxic work conditions—including verbal abuse, intimidation, and racism—and inappropriate interactions with guests, in a Buzzfeed expose released on Thursday.

Phil McGraw’s personal attorney, is speaking out against accusations of a toxic workplace environment against the long-running daytime talk show “Dr. Phil.” A dozen current and former employees of the long-running series spoke to BuzzFeed News about the verbal abuse, fear, intimidation and racism they faced behind the scenes of the production.“It is a clickbait story, because as everyone knows, Dr. Phil sells tickets,” Morris said in a statement to Variety.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorNickelodeon is taking a new swing at mixing professional sports with its young audiences.After broadcasting two NFL Wild Card games aimed at kids in the past two football seasons, the ViacomCBS outlet will next tackle golf. Nickelodeon plans to air a new one-hour special, “Nickelodeon Slime Cup,” that sets four teams of three against each other on a “Nick-ified” golf course with one-of-kind tee boxes, physical challenges, and far-out fairways.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterBrightcove Inc. has named former ViacomCBS exec Marc DeBevoise chief executive officer and board director of the software company and video platform.Previously chief digital officer of ViacomCBS and CEO and president of CBS Interactive, DeBevoise will begin his tenure as Brightcove CEO on March 28.

EXCLUSIVE: ViacomCBS has cut ties with Gobstopper TV following an investigation into bullying at the Just Tattoo Of Us producer, Deadline can reveal.

Naman Ramachandran Long-running Australian soap “Neighbours” has been canceled at ViacomCBS owned U.K. broadcaster Channel 5 as their focus shifts to original U.K. drama.

K.J. Yossman SkyShowtime, the joint streaming venture between Comcast and ViacomCBS, has received full regulatory approval.It will launch in Europe later this year.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Plus and Showtime are two separate subscription services owned by the same company in a market that is already overcrowded with streaming and pay-TV competition. But that’s the way it’s going to stay for the two ViacomCBS brands — for now at least — as Paramount Plus president of original scripted series Nicole Clemens says the young streamer continues to carve out its identity as the home of “big blockbuster originals” versus Showtime’s slightly “more coastal” audience.“I think they’re complementary and I think there’s going to be some overlap in a Venn diagram,” Clemens told Variety Tuesday, following Paramount Plus’ day of presentations at the virtual Television Critics Association winter press tour.

Yellowstone has become a huge ratings performer for Paramount Network – the crown jewel in ViacomCBS’ scripted arsenal.

Showtime is coming off the ratings success of two drama series – Yellowjackets and a Dexter sequel series.

Halo, after more than eight winding years in development, will finally land at Paramount+ this spring.

The David Boreanaz-led SEAL Team will be back for another go-round on Paramount+: the ViacomCBS streamer has renewed the military drama series for a 10-episode sixth season.

ViacomCBS announced the Season 2 renewal of freshman series The Game on Tuesday.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Mayor of Kingstown” has been renewed for Season 2 at Paramount Plus.The first season of the drama series debuted in November, with the season finale airing on Jan. 9. The first two episodes of the series also aired on Paramount Network immediately after “Yellowstone.” The series premiere drew 2.6 million viewers on the linear network, with the second episode drawing 2.1 million.The series follows the McLusky family – power brokers in Kingstown, Mich., where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry.

EXCLUSIVE: Former MTV topper Van Toffler is back in a formal relationship with the company where he spent almost three decades as an executive. MTV Entertainment Group has signed a multi-picture deal with independent studio Gunpowder & Sky, co-founded and run by Van Toffler, former CEO of Viacom Media Networks Music & Logo Group. The pact follows MTVE’s collaboration with Gunpowder & Sky on Comedy Central’s Hot Mess Holiday movie, starring Kal Penn, which was recently nominated for two NAACP awards, and signals a push in that area for the ViacomCBS division.