Cutbacks come ahead of merger with Skydance Media.
Paramount Global‘s advertising group conducted a round of layoffs on Tuesday (Sept. 17), which are part of the media conglomerate’s efforts to slash $500 million in annual costs,
Variety has confirmed.
Paramount Advertising is the centralized team that manages domestic multiplatform ad sales across CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount+, Pluto TV and other properties.
The number of employees affected by the cuts at Paramount Advertising couldn’t be learned. Paramount last month
announced that it will lay off 15% of its U.S. workforce, eliminating 2,000 jobs, ahead of its
merger with Skydance Media.
The layoffs were announced in a memo to staff by Paramount Advertising president John Halley. “Today is going to be a difficult day as this process will affect our org and we will be parting ways with talented and valued teammates and friends,” Halley said in the memo. “I want to acknowledge how unsettling this may feel, as this is not the first time our org has shouldered impacts. None of this is easy and no decision was made lightly.”
Halley encouraged his team to work from home today and to “exercise grace and kindness toward one another as we navigate these undoubtedly tough changes”.
Halley oversees the company’s domestic multiplatform sales across its broadcast, cable and streaming platforms including CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount+ and Pluto TV. He was previously COO of Advertising Revenue for Paramount, and took over the top ad job at Paramount after the exit of Jo Ann Ross, the TV industry’s first woman ad-sales chief, earlier this year.
On Paramount’s second quarter 2024 earnings call, Chris McCarthy, one of the company’s current three co-CEOs who heads Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, the company expects to complete the layoffs by the end of 2024. The cuts began on August 13 and 90% are expected to be completed by the end of September.
McCarthy noted that the $500 million in targeted cost reductions is included in the $2 billion of “cost efficiencies” identified by Skydance and its partner, RedBird Capital Partners. The layoffs are primarily targeted in two areas: “redundant functions” within marketing and communications and “streamlining our corporate structure” by reducing headcount in finance, legal, technology and other support functions, according to McCarthy.
“As you can imagine, these are difficult decisions to make. We have incredibly talented people at Paramount, and these actions are not a reflection of their contributions. Rather, they are necessary to transform our organization for the future,” McCarthy said on the call.
Paramount Global expects the Skydance deal to
close in the first half of 2025. The transaction involves Skydance and RedBird buying out Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. (Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder). Following the close, Larry Ellison — the Oracle founder who is the father of Skydance CEO David Ellison — will own 77.5% of NAI. Last month, an investment group led by billionaire Edgar Bronfman Jr.
entered a last-minute $6 billion offer challenging Skydance’s deal, but Bronfman subsequently dropped the bid.
Even with the $2 billion-plus in annualized cost reductions targeted by Skydance/RedBird for the newly combined company, they claim they will be able to “revitalize” CBS through the takeover. The new ownership group will provide “new resources” that will “substantially strengthen and revitalize the over-the-air television broadcasting services that Paramount provides today” with CBS, the Skydance group said in an FCC application requesting the license transfer of CBS’s 28 owned-and-operated local TV stations.
The layoffs in Paramount’s advertising division were first reported by
Deadline.
UPDATE (9/25):
Paramount’s Erin Calhoun Exits As EVP Communications Ahead Of Next Round Of Layoffs
One of Paramount Global’s top communications executives, Erin Calhoun, is stepping down from her role as EVP, Head of Communications, Paramount Streaming & Showtime and Cross-Company Publicity after seven years at the company. Her departure comes as Paramount is bracing for the next wave of layoffs, which I hear is expected next Tuesday, Sept. 24, with marketing and streaming/Paramount+ believed to be among the areas seriously impacted. There also will be further streamlining of the company’s communications operations, which Calhoun’s departure is a precursor to.
Paramount Global’s staff cuts, aiming to reduce its U.S.-based workforce by 15%, started in August, with 90% of the total layoffs to be completed by the end of September.
Calhoun, who was EVP Communications at Showtime Networks & Paramount Television Studios before being named to her current role in January 2023, announced her departure in a note to her team. (You can read it below.) It also was addressed in an internal memo to the division by Tom Ryan, President & CEO, Paramount Streaming.
“During her tenure, Erin successfully built and led a world-class team that effectively showcased the momentum and milestones of our premium content and leading services,” Ryan said in the email, which you can read in full below. “Overseeing everything from Corporate Communications, Publicity, Events and Talent Relations to Awards and Photography, Erin oversaw top-notch campaigns for all Paramount+ originals including Fellow Travelers, The Curse, Frasier, Knuckles and Special Ops: Lioness; shepherded media relations for product and brand priorities such as Pluto TV’s 10th anniversary; led the team executing more than 250 industry events and spearheaded nearly 100 award nominations each year.”
Calhoun most recently led communications for the integrated Paramount Streaming team, which includes Paramount+, Pluto TV and Showtime, and oversaw programming publicity, media and talent relations, events, photography, awards, film festivals, philanthropy, sports and corporate branding. She also has oversight of cross-company publicity.
A seasoned communications executive with decades of experience,, Calhoun joined Showtime in 2017 and was named EVP Communications in 2020. She subsequently added oversight of communications for Paramount TV Studios.
Calhoun came to Showtime from NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, where she served as VP Corporate Communications, managing trade and business strategies and internal communications for USA Network and Syfy. Prior to joining NBC, Calhoun worked for six years at Discovery Communications as VP Communications.
Previously, Calhoun spent 10 years as an independent consultant for various clients including TNT, TBS, Disney Channel, Discovery and GSN (Game Show Network). Before that, Calhoun worked at TNT for three years as a unit publicist and press project manager, overseeing unit publicity for TNT original films. Calhoun began her career at The Today Show as a talent coordinator.
Here is Calhoun’s note to staff:
After seven incredible years, I am sharing the news that I will be leaving Paramount. It has been a privilege to be a part of this organization, and I am filled with gratitude for the experiences and opportunities I have been fortunate to have but most of all the friendships I have made along the way.
During my time here, I had the honor of leading the communications team first at Showtime and most recently for Paramount Streaming, an experience that has been truly rewarding. I am very proud of this team and all we have accomplished. Together, we overcame several challenges and changes – always supporting each other as we focused on delivering amazing campaigns and record breaking results including launching numerous award winning shows, producing hundreds of premiere events and awards campaigns, and expertly navigating countless corporate communications initiatives.
While I’m incredibly proud of what we accomplished together, what truly has made this journey remarkable is this team and the people I have had the privilege to work with — the talented individuals who have not just been colleagues, but friends. I leave here with cherished memories that will stay with me forever. I am so grateful for every moment, for all the fun we have had together and for each and every one of you.
As I move forward to my next adventure, please know that I carry with me all the lessons learned, as well as the spirit of collaboration that we have cultivated together. Thank you for your support, your dedication, and your partnership.
I will be departing at the end of the month and l look forward to connecting with many of you prior to leaving. Wishing each of you all the best and continued success.
With heartfelt thanks,
Erin
—————
Tom Ryan’s note:
Hi Team
I want to share that Erin Calhoun is leaving Paramount after seven years with the company. I have had the great pleasure of working closely with Erin in her role as EVP, Head of Communications, Paramount Streaming & Showtime and Cross-Company Publicity, where she seamlessly brought together communications teams from Paramount+, Pluto TV and Showtime to create a unified function that crafted and accelerated our powerful streaming narrative.
During her tenure, Erin successfully built and led a world-class team that effectively showcased the momentum and milestones of our premium content and leading services. Overseeing everything from Corporate Communications, Publicity, Events and Talent Relations to Awards and Photography, Erin oversaw top-notch campaigns for all Paramount+ originals including Fellow Travelers, The Curse, Frasier, Knuckles and Special Ops: Lioness; shepherded media relations for product and brand priorities such as Pluto TV’s 10th anniversary; led the team executing more than 250 industry events and spearheaded nearly 100 award nominations each year.
As many of you know, Erin deftly built and elevated the Showtime brand during her time at Paramount, which included sending off hit series Shameless and Billions, as well as launching Yellowjackets and Dexter: New Blood. During a dynamic time at our company, Erin has also masterfully navigated bringing together teams from across Paramount to demonstrate the success of our combined offering in her role as head of Corporate Cross-Company Publicity. Her collaborative nature and approach were on display for this year’s Super Bowl where she helped manage the Corporate Communications efforts for the company.
I’m incredibly grateful for her countless contributions to Paramount but most of all her steadfast collaboration and expert counsel. Erin has been a trusted confidant and strategic partner, and I know she’ll have great success in all her future endeavors. Please join me in wishing Erin a heartfelt goodbye.
Tom
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Paramount Initiates Next Round Of Layoffs In Ongoing Effort To Cut 15% Of U.S. Workforce
Paramount Global has initiated the next phase of its plan to lay off 15% of its U.S. workforce, saying the cuts will be 90% complete after further cutbacks today.
George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins conveyed the news to staffers in a memo this morning. (Read it in full below.) The Co-CEOs months ago said they were aiming to achieve $500 million in annual cost savings, with layoffs a key component in hitting that target.
Sources have indicated to Deadline in recent days that the streaming organization within Paramount, encompassing several departments, is expected to be the most directly affected by Phase 2. The company’s advertising division was targeted by a number of cuts last week. Over the course of the year, a number of high-profile execs have left the company and Paramount Television has shut down, with its shows moving to CBS Studios.
“Like the entire Media industry, we are working to accelerate streaming profitability while at the same time adjusting to the evolving landscape in our traditional businesses. In order to set Paramount up for continued success, we are taking these actions,” the memo said. “Days like today are never easy. It is difficult to say goodbye to valued colleagues, and to those departing, we are incredibly grateful for your countless contributions.”
The IBEW, which is the largest union representing CBS employees, weighed in against the trimming of CBS Broadcasting employees in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. “IBEW members have been producing CBS broadcasts since before the invention of television,” said Robert Prunn, the union’s Director of Broadcasting and Telecommunications, “and these layoffs are a hard pill to swallow.”
Paramount had 21,900 full- and part-time employees in 33 countries globally at the end of 2023, as well as 4,500 project-based staffers. Last February, the company let go of 3% of employees. The current rounds are expected to see a total of at least 2,000 more employees depart. No exact figure has been available for today’s round but it is believed that several hundred workers are affected.
The staff reductions stem from a daunting set of financial challenges facing Paramount and other legacy media companies, especially due to the decline in linear TV viewership and advertising. Last month, as Paramount reported its second-quarter financial results, it also revealed a $6 billion write-down of the value of its cable network assets. As the cash flow from traditional pay-TV sources diminishes, the cost profile of the streaming business and the ever-increasing fees for top-tier sports rights are only adding to the worries of companies saddled with significant debt.
As it has tightened the belt over the past year, Paramount has also pursued a sale of certain assets as well as the company as a whole. Skydance Media last month clinched a merger deal that will see it invest $8 billion in the takeover of controlling shareholder National Amusements before merging fully with Paramount.
Here is the full memo from the Co-CEOs:
Hi Everyone,
We are following up on the note below to inform you that today, we will begin phase two of our workforce reductions in the US.
Like the entire Media industry, we are working to accelerate streaming profitability while at the same time adjusting to the evolving landscape in our traditional businesses. In order to set Paramount up for continued success, we are taking these actions, and after today, 90% of these reductions will be complete.
Days like today are never easy. It is difficult to say goodbye to valued colleagues, and to those departing, we are incredibly grateful for your countless contributions.
We appreciate everyone’s resilience and commitment to delivering some of the biggest hits across TV and Film, and for continuing the hard but necessary work to best position the company for the future.
Thank you,
George, Chris & Brian
###
CBS News’ Jeff Glor Among Those Departing Amid Latest Round Of Paramount Global Layoffs
The Paramount Global round of layoffs today have impacted CBS News once again, with special correspondent and CBS Saturday Morning co-host Jeff Glor among those departing, according to two sources familiar with the cutbacks.
Glor was the anchor of CBS Evening News from 2017 to 2019. He has been with the network since 2007, having previously worked at WHDH-TV Boston.
Others departing include Anna Werner, senior consumer investigative correspondent, and Ben Tracy, senior national and environmental correspondent, sources said.
Paramount Initiates Next Round Of Layoffs In Ongoing Effort To Cut 15% Of U.S. Workforce
CBS parent Paramount Global announced further cutbacks today as part of a goal of reducing its workforce by 15% and achieving $500 million in annual cost savings.
“Like the entire Media industry, we are working to accelerate streaming profitability while at the same time adjusting to the evolving landscape in our traditional businesses. In order to set Paramount up for continued success, we are taking these actions,” George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins wrote in a memo this morning. “Days like today are never easy. It is difficult to say goodbye to valued colleagues, and to those departing, we are incredibly grateful for your countless contributions.”
CBS News already has been through a round of cuts, and it has announced plans to overhaul CBS Evening News after the fall election. Norah O’Donnell, who succeeded Glor, is departing as anchor and will become a special correspondent, while the newscast will be co-anchored by John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois. Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, also will serve as supervising producer of the evening newscast. Dickerson will continue his show on the CBS News 24/7 streaming service, and DuBois will continue to anchor on the CBS-owned station in New York. The network has been embarking on further integration of its national and local news operations, after CBS News and Stations were merged into one unit in 2021.
Puck first reported on Glor’s departure.
CBS News President Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews stepped down from her position last summer, after less than a year in the job, citing the transformation of the business and the fact that “a number of short- and long-term decisions need to be made.”
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Longtime CBS Exec Tina Koyanagi-Rosener & Her 6-Person Team Among Hundreds Cut At Paramount+
EXCLUSIVE, updated: Twenty-nine-year veteran Tina Koyanagi-Rosener and six of her fellow colleagues in content strategy for Paramount+ were among the hundreds who were laid off Tuesday as part of Paramount Global’s plan to slash 15% of its U.S. workforce.
Koyanagi-Rosener and her team served as liaisons between Paramount+, the studios and production. Among the series that her team oversaw were the Taylor Sheridan shows, Star Trek universe, SEAL Team and Criminal Minds: Evolution.
Koyanagi-Rosener first joined CBS after following Anita Addison over from Warner Bros. TV to run drama development for Leslie Moonves. Since then, Koyanagi-Rosener worked in daytime and CBS Interactive before moving to Paramount+, where she was joined the content strategy team for scripted originals.
Co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins wrote to staff this morning that they were aiming to achieve $500 million in annual cost savings, with layoffs a key component in hitting that target.
Paramount’s advertising division was targeted by a number of cuts last week. Over the course of the year, a number of high-profile execs have left the company and Paramount Television has shut down, with its shows moving to CBS Studios.
“Like the entire media industry, we are working to accelerate streaming profitability while at the same time adjusting to the evolving landscape in our traditional businesses,” the memo from the co-CEOs said. “In order to set Paramount up for continued success, we are taking these actions. Days like today are never easy. It is difficult to say goodbye to valued colleagues, and to those departing, we are incredibly grateful for your countless contributions.”
###
Paramount+’s Communications Team Dissolved As Layoffs Hit Streamer Hard
UPDATED with more info: We had been hearing for weeks that Paramount+, which was spared in the first wave of Paramount Global‘s ongoing layoffs last month, would take the brunt of cuts in the second round. That has been happening today, with entire departments eliminated as Paramount+ faces an uncertain future ahead of Paramount Global’s acquisition by Skydance.
One of the units that essentially is being dissolved is Paramount+’s communications operation, with SVPs Morgan Seal, Amanda Cary and Deva Kehoe among those impacted. The move was foreshadowed last week by the departure of Erin Calhoun, who oversaw the department as EVP, Head of Communications, Paramount Streaming & Showtime and Cross-Company Publicity. Seal, Cary and Kehoe all reported to her.
The functions under Calhoun — publicity, photo, events, awards, talent relations, etc. — are being eliminated at Paramount+ and will be handled by the studios supplying the streamer, including CBS Studios and MTV Entertainment Studios, I hear. That already was done in other areas, including programming with the disbandment of the Paramount+ Originals team during one of the previous rounds of Paramount Global cuts, with the studios now handling development and current on Paramount+ shows.
Seal and Cary were the top PR executives under Calhoun; Kehoe headed Talent Relations, Events & Awards. I hear also gone is the Paramount+ with Showtime PR team, which Cary oversaw. A handful of junior publicity and events staffers affected by today’s layoffs are being absorbed by the studios that will be taking over Paramount+’s communications responsibilities, sources said. A rep for Paramount Global declined comment.
As Deadline reported exclusively earlier today, 29-year veteran Tina Koyanagi-Rosener and her eight-person team in content strategy for Paramount+ were among the hundreds who were laid off as part of Paramount Global’s plan to slash 15% of its U.S. workforce.
Seal was a 13-year company veteran, Cary had been at Showtime and Paramount+ 12 years; Kehoe — six. Both Seal and Cary sent out farewell notes today, announcing their departures.
During her tenure, Seal helped to shepherd publicity for the Taylor Sheridan projects and the Star Trek universe, among others. After working for Clicker Media Inc., Seal joined CBS Interactive in New York in 2011. She served as the Director of Communications from 2015 to 2019 before joining Paramount+ communications as a VP in 2019. She was upped to SVP in 2022.
Cary, who joined Showtime in 2013 and was promoted to SVP in 2022, oversaw the New York-based entertainment PR team, working on series such as Dexter and Yellowjackets, before segueing to Paramount+ last year. She came to Showtime after five years at USA Network, where she helped launch series including Suits and Covert Affairs.
Kehoe also transitioned to Paramount+ from Showtime where she served as SVP Talent, Events, Awards, & Promotions. Before joining Showtime in December 2018, she served as Director, Special Events & Talent Relations at Hulu and spent 13.5 years at Fox Searchlight Pictures, rising to Director, Special Events.
Lynette Rice contributed to this report.
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Originally published: September 18, 2024.
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