Making Sense Of CBS’ Government Shakeup Amid Cuts At Paramount World – Deadline

Restructuring, streamlining and realignment. We’ve been listening to that phrasing fairly a bit over the previous few months as media congloms have been scaling down their high govt ranks and concentrating on efficiencies to enhance their stability sheets in a time when the results from the pandemic are being exacerbated by the influence of the financial slowdown, excessive inflation and a looming recession.

CBS president and CEO George Cheeks used the “restructuring and streamlining” language in his memos yesterday saying the exits of Kelly Kahl, a 26-year CBS veteran, who’s stepping down as President of CBS Leisure, and Thom Sherman, who’s departing as Senior EVP of Programming. (Whereas Sherman had been at CBS for five.5 years, he had been with the bigger firm for 16.5 years, having beforehand labored on the CW, which till just lately was a three way partnership between CBS and Warner Bros.)

Final month, one other high exec from the CBS a part of Paramount World, Showtime Chairman and CEO David Nevins, exited after 12 years. And the month earlier than, Jo Ann Ross, a 30-year CBS veteran, additionally stepped down. No outdoors executives have been introduced in as replacements, with Nevins’ duties divvied up amongst different high Paramount World execs, together with Cheeks, Ross’ position as President of Paramount Promoting taken over by COO John Halley whereas Kahl and Sherman’s positions have been consolidated into one, Leisure President, which can be held by CBS head of present Amy Reisenbach.

That performs into the notion that Paramount World has been top-heavy, particularly post-merger, with a number of senior executives on the highest stage in numerous areas.

Kicked off by Ross’ exit, the advert gross sales restructuring continued yesterday with layoffs of near 100 staff. The transfer of Paramount TV Studios, beforehand overseen by Nevins, to Cheeks’ portfolio, the place it joins CBS Studios, additionally is anticipated to end in layoffs at each studios, largely in enterprise and different non-creative areas, with the 2 growth groups remaining separate.

“We’ve got at all times been conscious of price administration as an organization, and we are actually taking further steps to enhance effectivity throughout our group,” Paramount CEO Bob Bakish stated on the corporate’s current quarterly earnings name following comfortable monetary outcomes.

Bakish has been advocating nearer cooperation throughout divisions, which he hopes among the current strikes would assist with.

“This alteration has additionally given us the chance to extra carefully align our studios, networks and streaming operations as we execute on our imaginative and prescient and technique for the longer term,” he stated following Nevins’ exit.

Paramount World shouldn’t be the one firm that has been slimming down, and long-time TV executives have been departing at a gentle tempo throughout the trade. Simply weeks in the past, we noticed the exit of the CW CEO and Chairman Mark Pedowitz after 11.5 years. And whereas CBS went from two, Kahl and Sherman, to at least one govt on the helm of its leisure division, that’s nonetheless greater than the opposite two Large 3 broadcast networks amid an ongoing decline in linear viewing. Neither ABC nor NBC have a devoted programming govt for the printed community, with Craig Erwich overseeing each ABC and Hulu’s authentic programming (in addition to Disney Branded Leisure) and Susan Rovner shepherding each NBC and Peacock.

Within the case of Paramount, there are possible different components too. Ross, Nevins, Kahl and Sherman have been the final remaining top-level executives on the CBS aspect of the corporate who had not been appointed by Bakish or somebody employed by him however by former CBS CEO Les Moonves.

Moreover, Cheeks didn’t make any main govt modifications when he joined then-ViacomCBS at first of 2020. He’s now placing his personal stamp with Reisenbach’s promotion which might deliver a inventive shift on the community.

CBS has executed properly, sustaining its title as probably the most watched broadcast community for 14 straight seasons. Past outlier Ghosts, the opposite profitable new scripted additions throughout Kahl and Sherman’s tenure have been procedurals and spinoffs from established franchises, together with FBI, FBI: Most Needed and FBI: Worldwide, The Equalizer, NCIS: Hawai’i, and new breakout Hearth Nation in addition to conventional multi-camera sitcoms The Neighborhood, Bob ♥ Abishola and Ghosts.