Paramount Global Layoffs: Paramount TV Studios Combines Development & Current, Other Senior Executives Impacted

Details are starting to emerge about the major round of layoffs Tuesday at Paramount Global impacting about 800 employees in the U.S.

Headed into today’s reductions, there had been chatter about Paramount TV Studios possibly downsizing. The studio, led by Nicole Clemens, has remained independent from the larger CBS Studios as the two combined support operations in November 2022 by centralizing finance, law, production, business affairs and casting.

Paramount TV Studios, which absorbed Paramount+’s scripted originals team in 2022, is now streamlining its programming operations by consolidating development and current under Head of Development Jana Helman, who will continue to report to studio president Clemens.

Leaving are Cheryl Bosnak, PTVS’s EVP and Head of Current; Kate Gill, SVP Development; Julie Katchen, VP of Current; and Devin Crossfield, Manager, Development.

Also departing is PTVS’ SVP and Head of Communications Dominic Pagone, who moved into the role a year ago after five years at Showtime and 18 at FX. CBS Studios and PTVS’ communications operations are now being consolidated under CBS Studios’ EVP Communications Kristen Hall.

CBS Studios and Paramount TV Studios’ development/current teams will remain separate.

PTVS established a stand-alone current department in 2019 when former Disney ABC current executive Bosnak was brought in to lead it.

All Paramount divisions are said to be impacted by the layoffs.

At Nickelodeon, Liz Paulson, head of animation and live-action casting and talent development for the network and studio content for third-party platforms, is leaving. The division’s talent department is being decentralized, I hear. Nick’s animation department has been significantly impacted, with close to 10 layoffs on both coasts.

Other notable TV executive departures so far include Brie Neimand, SVP, Current, Cable and Streaming Series at CBS Studios, who has been at the studio for 2 1/2 years; and Geoff Stier, SVP, Original Programming at Showtime Networks, who has been there for five years.

Today’s layoffs represent about 3% of Paramount’s global head count. At the start of 2023, Paramount had 24,500 full- and part-time employees in 37 countries, with another 5,800 project-based staffers.

“To those with whom we are parting ways, we are incredibly grateful for your hard work and dedication,” Paramount CEO Bob Bakish wrote in a company memo at the start of the layoffs this morning. “Your talents have helped us advance our mission of unleashing the power of content around the world.”

Like other traditional media companies, Paramount has been hampered by a slowdown in advertising as it navigates the transition from linear TV to streaming.

Could MultiChoice And M-Net Look Into Scrapping AddMovies On DStv?

In September 2020, M-Net Movies restructured their movie offering further reducing the number of channels from 6 to 4. MultiChoice also added two additional movie channels KIX and fliekNET with one of them serving as a promotion to low tailored consumers known as AddMovies.

AddMovies gave DStv consumers the opportunity to browse some of the cinemas freshest releases on M-Net Movies 1 and 2 alongside browse potential pop-up channels at the fee of R99p/m before dropping to R79p/m.

In recent months, MultiChoice has done a lot of downsizing/content management which included the cancellation of Maisha Magic Movies, HONEY, ROK GH, Tellytrack and Novela Magic. Even their movie offering particularly AddMovies had seen a reduction in airtime.

Aside from a reduced price rate, M-Net Movies hadn't launched any pop-up channel in the current financial year leading some to believe that M-Net had moved away from this offering. I mean their premium movie channels are seen airing films like The Expandables and Jurassic Park.

The previous setup of M-Net Movies had these channels focus on fresher releases but as seen with this new set up. It's almost as if M-Net is trying to keep Premium and AddMovies consumers away from M-Net Movies 3 and 4 similar to what's seen with M-Net and Me.

I presume M-Net will rely more on their existing entertainment offering to supplement the pop-ups and that also includes Afrocinema. But then again these recent developments kind of leads one to wonder what future awaits AddMovies.

Similar to other DStv packages, even AddMovies had seen a reduction of channels first it was fliekNET as the brand reverted back to a pop-up channel with other content integrating with kykNET. Then there was their two Bollywood movie channels with B4U Movies that got axed.

If I had to guess, AddMovies could remain for the foreseeable future as the brand was viewed as a popular addition with an estimated viewership base of 6000-8000. But then again, another possible restructure to the movie offering wouldn't seem far fetched.

Renewals Or Cancellations: Hamster And Gretel + Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur + Kiff + Big City Greens + The Villains Of Valley View + Ravens Home On Disney Channel

Last month, Disney opted to scrap Secrets Of Sulphur Springs and The Ghost And Molly McGee after their current seasons on Disney Channel. This news comes after the brand had announced the cancellation of Bunk'd and Saturdays as they look to reduce content costs and focus more on existing IPs.

Some IPs slated to air across various international feeds include Playdate With Winnie The Pooh and The Little Mermaid for Disney Junior and Phineas And Ferb Season 5 and Monsters At Work for Disney Channel.

Following these cancellations, fans of the networks have been in an uproar wondering what fate awaits their remaining offering. As some readers are aware, Disney is rumoured to have axed Pretty Freekin Scary and although there's still no official confirmation the company has been known for doing it's content dirty (e.g. Milo Murphy's Law).

Below a list of various content on the Disney Channel and their status

Renewals

Big City Greens Season 4

Hamster And Gretel Season 2

Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur Season 2 (exclusive to Disney+ in EMEA)

Kiff Season 2

Cancelled/Ending

Bunk'd Season 7

Secrets Of Sulphur Springs Season 4

The Ghost And Molly McGee Season 2

Saturdays Season 1

Unknown

Raven's Home (currently on season 6)

The Villains Of Valley View (currently on season 4)

Hailey's On It (currently on season 1)

Pretty Freekin Scary (currently on season 1)

One Freestate Televisual And NWTV Exit On DStv Explained

By late October, MultiChoice added two provincial channels to the DStv platform, One Freestate Televisual and NWTV. One was based in Bloemfontein and catered for Free State while the other was based in the North West but catered for Southern Africa.

Both channels offered a mixture of content ranging from reality shows, news, cartoons and drama series. But as seen earlier in the month none of these channels currently reside with DStv with One Freestate Televisual that is also seen on StarSat.

At the time of publishing MultiChoice remained hush hush on why these channels suddenly went dark in the first place. From what other sources gathered, MultiChoice had added both NWTV and One Freestate Televisual on a trial run basis which took about 3 months.

One Freestate Televisual has been trying to negotiate with MultiChoice on a new agreement while NWTV is no more. These talks are said to be still in discussion so it remains to be determined whether this channel would return.

Prior to this, MultiChoice was said to in negotiation with Limpopo TV over possibly adding the channel in 2021 before plans fell flat. According to the channel itself, MultiChoice had a different content strategy and this limited the amount of provincial stations on the platform.

Could SABC Look Into Merging Their DTT Platform With eMedia Investments' Openview?

SABC and eMedia were arch rivals for a more than a decade and 3 years ago they put their differences aside and formed a new partnership. This led to the additions of SABC Sport and through a separate agreement on MultiChoice's DStv, SABC's 19 radio stations on Openview.

Since then, SABC Sport had become a trailblazer ranking as one of the top 10 most watched channels on the platform joining elites like eExtra, eReality and eMovies. The channel offers a variety of sport including Premier League, NBA, La Liga, Racing Today and TKO Boxing.

Ukhozi FM, Radio 2000, Channel Africa and Phalaphala FM, some of the many radio stations operated by SABC to consumers expands eMedia's local line-up.

During the week, it was reported that Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are looking to launch a joint streaming service for sports. Similar to SABC and eMedia Investments these two had been rivalling for several decades and with the current economic climate are trying to sustain themselves.

It does lead one to wonder if SABC and eMedia Investments could look into doing something similar aside from channel additions. French company Canal+ is looking to acquire MultiChoice and should it exceed could help the pay-tv company compete on a more wider scale.

SABC and eMedia Investments services cover mainly South Africa for which most of MultiChoice's consumers resides. Another partnership could better position themselves against the likes of DStv as seen with SABC Sport it's making content more accessible.

One of the ideas that came to mind would be a merger of both their DTT platforms. SABC's current bouquet doesn't reach that many households and money is being wasted on manufacturing while eMedia's current offering doesn't offer much local content.

SABC's DTT platforms offers community stations like 1KZN and Tshwane TV a section that had been abandoned by Openview on top of local news, SABC Lehae. eMedia's offering such as eReality and eSeries are on the opposing side for M-Net as opposed to Mzansi Magic.

eMedia Investments is currently embroiled in a carriage dispute with MultiChoice for their 4 Openview channels. SABC on the other has been trying to seek revenue from the pay-tv company for SABC 1-3 and alongside eMedia better carriage fees.