The void left by David Nevins’ departure has been left unfilled for three weeks. 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.
Also growing is speculation how CBS Studios and Paramount TV Studios will align now that both are under the purview of George Cheeks, President & CEO, CBS and CCO, News & Sports, Paramount+. Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish stressed on the day of Nevins’ exit announcement that Paramount TV Studios “will continue to operate as a studio alongside CBS Studios,”In cases like these, however, it is not impossible to find synergies.
We can expect a clearer picture of Paramount+ as well as CBS Studios/Paramount TV Studios over the next couple weeks. This will likely involve layoffs.
As we reported earlier this month, the three studios supplying Paramount+ with scripted series — CBS Studios, Paramount TV Studios and MTV Entertainment Studios, where Taylor Sheridan is based — are expected to each take charge of their development for the streamer and oversee their Paramount+ shows in collaboration with Tom Ryan, President and CEO of Paramount Streaming, and Tanya Giles, the company’s Chief Programming Officer of Streaming, who is shepherding the rollout of content.
Many speculations have been made about what will happen to the Paramount+ Development Team, headed by Paramount TV Studios President Nicole Clemens as President, Paramount+ Original Screened Series. There is consensus that this team will be disbanded. It is unclear what will happen to the executives. The latest rumor suggests that they might be absorbed into PTVS. This would be logical, as Paramount+’s top scripted executives (including Clemens) and Head of Current Cheryl Bosnak, have dual oversight over PTVS/Paramount+. We hear that the Paramount+ group is small but could face some layoffs once it is disbanded.
In order to determine how Paramount+ scripted series greenlight decisions will be made, there is a plan that a committee of senior executives from both the Paramount Global TV and studios would be responsible. Plans for the new structure are still being finalized, and it will look similar to Disney+’s studio-focused, decentralized model.
As Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said in his memo announcing Nevins’ exit, “this change has also given us the opportunity to more closely align our studios, networks and streaming operations as we execute on our vision and strategy for the future.”
Paramount TV Studios’ alignment with CBS Studios is causing the company the most anxiety. Some employees are having flashbacks to the 2004 merger between CBS Productions Television and Paramount Network Television.
Cheeks and Clemens moved in quickly to assuage merger fears on the day Paramount TV Studios joined CBS Studios in Cheeks’ portfolio with a memo, assuring the PTVS team that “Paramount TV Studios and CBS Studios will both continue to have their own leaders and separate creative teams that will operate independently in the market.”
Nevertheless, media companies always find redundancies in backlot operations and services that operate across labels. Therefore, headcount reductions at studios can be expected.