Bob
Bakish,
president
and
chief
executive
officer
of
Viacom,
attends
the
fourth
day
of
the
annual
Allen
&
Company
Sun
Valley
Conference,
July
11,
2023
in
Sun
Valley,
Idaho.
David
A.
Grogan
|
CNBC
Paramount
Global
CEO
Bob
Bakish
is
stepping
down,
the
company
announced
Monday,
as
merger
negotiations
with
Skydance
Media
continue.
Bakish
climbed
the
corporate
ladder
after
joining
Viacom
in
1997,
until
he
became
CEO
of
the
company
in
2016.
Following
the
merger
of
Viacom
and
CBS,
he
became
CEO
of
the
combined
company
in
2019,
which
was
later
renamed
Paramount
Global.
He
is
also
leaving
the
company’s
board
of
directors,
Paramount
said
Monday.
Bakish
will
be
replaced
by
what
the
company
called
an
“Office
of
the
CEO.”
Paramount
will
now
be
led
by
CBS
president
and
CEO
George
Cheeks;
Chris
McCarthy,
president
and
CEO
of
Showtime/MTV
Entertainment
Studios
and
Paramount
Media
Networks;
and
Brian
Robbins,
the
head
of
Paramount
Pictures
and
Nickelodeon.
The
company
said
the
three
executives
will
work
closely
with
Paramount
CFO
Naveen
Chopra
and
the
board.
In
the
release
Monday,
Paramount
said
the
new
leadership
is
“working
with
the
board
to
develop
a
comprehensive,
long-range
plan
to
accelerate
growth
and
develop
popular
content,
materially
streamline
operations,
strengthen
the
balance
sheet,
and
continue
to
optimize
the
streaming
strategy.”
Paramount
also
reported
its
first-quarter
earnings
after
the
bell
Monday
and
held
an
earnings
call
during
which
the
newly
appointed
company
heads
gave
a
brief
statement
and
said
they
would
be
back
“in
short
order”
to
share
details
on
future
plans.
Chopra
led
the
call,
which
lasted
under
10
minutes
and
didn’t
include
questions
from
analysts.
Streaming
boost
The
company
posted
mixed
results
for
the
first
quarter,
beating
on
earnings
but
missing
on
revenue.
Paramount
reported
62
cents
per
share
for
the
period,
excluding
items,
versus
estimates
of
36
cents
a
share,
according
to
analysts
polled
by
LSEG.
For
revenue
the
company
posted
$7.69
billion
versus
analyst
estimates
of
$7.73
billion,
according
to
LSEG.
Overall
revenue
was
up
6%
compared
with
the
same
period
last
year,
propelled
by
streaming
and
the
Super
Bowl.
The
company’s
direct-to-consumer
streaming
segment,
which
includes
flagship
service
Paramount+,
Pluto
TV
and
BET+
saw
revenue
rise
24%
to
about
$1.88
billion.
Paramount
said
it
added
3.7
million
Paramount+
subscribers
during
the
quarter,
bringing
the
total
to
71
million.
Losses
related
to
streaming
narrowed
to
$286
million
compared
with
losses
of
$511
million
during
the
same
period
last
year.
Advertising
revenue
in
the
streaming
segment
was
up,
largely
due
to
the
Super
Bowl,
which
aired
in
February
on
CBS,
cable
TV
channel
Nickelodeon
and
Paramount+.
Similarly,
advertising
revenue
in
Paramount’s
TV
media
unit,
which
includes
broadcaster
CBS
and
cable
TV
channels
such
as
MTV
and
Nickelodeon,
grew
14%
due
to
the
Super
Bowl.
The
top
NFL
event
provided
a
boost
during
what
has
been
a
sluggish
advertising
environment
for
traditional
TV
networks.
Still,
streaming
platforms
and
digital
companies
have
reported
advertising
revenue
growth,
indicating
the
market
is
rebounding,
at
least
for
those
areas.
Overall,
TV
Media
revenue
was
up
1%
to
$5.23
billion.
Affiliate
and
subscription
revenue
fell
3%
as
cord-cutting
continued,
and
licensing
and
other
revenue
dropped
25%,
including
the
impact
of
the
Hollywood
writers’
and
actors’
strikes
on
content
available
for
licensing.
Revenue
for
Paramount’s
filmed
entertainment
unit
increased
3%
to
$605
million
due
to
the
releases
of
“Mean
Girls”
and
“Bob
Marley:
One
Love.”
Bakish
departure
Bakish’s
ouster
comes
as
Paramount
and
Skydance
Media
inch
closer
to
a
possible
merger,
CNBC
previously
reported.
The
companies
are
in
exclusive
talks
to
pursue
the
deal
until
May
3,
and
a
special
committee
is
already
in
place.
Bakish
has
privately
dissented
against
the
merger,
claiming
it
will
dilute
common
shareholders,
CNBC
reported.
As
part
of
the
proposed
deal,
nearly
50%
of
the
merged
company
would
be
owned
by
Skydance
and
its
private
equity
backers,
while
common
shareholders
would
own
the
remainder
of
Paramount,
which
would
remain
publicly
traded.
On
Saturday
CNBC
reported
Bakish
could
be
out
as
CEO
as
soon
as
Monday,
and
ahead
of
the
earnings
call,
after
losing
the
trust
of
Paramount
Global
controlling
shareholder
Shari
Redstone,
who
could
see
his
removal
as
a
means
to
accelerate
a
Skydance
deal,
CNBC
reported
Monday.
The
departure
also
comes
as
Paramount
has
been
in
negotiations
with
cable
company
Charter
Communications
for
the
carriage
of
its
TV
networks
including
CBS
and
MTV.
The
deadline
for
those
negotiations
is
Tuesday.
The
special
committee
—
which
is
in
charge
of
accepting
or
rejecting
transactions
—
and
Skydance,
which
is
backed
by
private
equity
firms
KKR
and
RedBird
Capital
Partners,
have
been
narrowing
in
on
how
to
value
Skydance’s
assets
as
part
of
a
merger,
as
well
as
how
much
equity
to
add
to
the
company,
CNBC
previously
reported.
Skydance
intends
to
name
its
CEO,
David
Ellison,
as
head
of
Paramount
if
the
deal
happens,
CNBC
previously
reported.
—
CNBC’s
Alex
Sherman
contributed
to
this
report.
